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A fire on an oil rig operating in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the BP oil spill has been reported. The company operating the rig said all 13 members of the crew have been evacuated and safely accounted for and no injuries have been reported and in an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported.
Texas based independent oil and gas exploration and production company, Mariner Energy, Inc. said Thursday that a fire had occurred at its Vermilion 380 production platform which is operating in 350 feet of water, approximately 100 miles from the Louisiana coast.
It said that automated shutoff equipment on the platform had safely turned off the flow of oil and gas from the platform’s seven producing wells before the fire occurred and the crew evacuated.
The current six-month suspension for deepwater drilling rigs does not apply to this platform.
The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken, the company said in a press release. During the last week of August 2010, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate.
By comparison, the Deepwater Horizon rig was drilling 8,000 barrels of oil per day and had 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel stored on board when it blew up.
The US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) has launched a full investigation into the September 2 incident.
BOEM’s director Michael R. Bromwich said: “We are all relieved that the 13 personnel on the platform were rescued safely. We are continuing to closely monitor this situation, which will be investigated fully. We will use all available resources to ensure that we find out what happened, how it happened, and what enforcement action should be taken if any laws or regulations were violated.”
