Another offshore Gulf oil platform explodes into flames

Another offshore Gulf of Mexico oil platform has exploded into flames today and it’s uncertain what the status of a potential oil leak is.

Mariner Energy, the company that owns the platform, reported a slight oil sheen that measured one nautical mile by 100 feet.

Gulf Oil Platform was Active at Time of Explosion

Mariner Energy has told the US Coast Guard that the oil production platform was active at the time of the explosion, servicing as many as seven active wells. There are a total of 13 wells connected to the platform, said Jindal.

“They are saying that they’ve shut in the production platform,” said Jindal. “If that’s true that’s a very important step but we haven’t independently verified that.”

Jindal warned of the fast-changing information flow from these types of explosions, and said will not be confident that there is no sheen or that the fire is contained until it’s independently verified.

Initial reports of the incident described the platform as being “completely engulfed in flames,” according to Jindal. He said Mariner Energy believes one of the seven active wells connected to the platform caught fire, but that all seven are now shut down.

The fire is contained but still burning, according to the Coast Guard’s Masaschi, who said that one of three firefighting vessels headed to the scene has already arrived.

According to the Coast Guard, the platform was fixed in 340 feet of water. Workers have told authorities that they started emergency shutdown procedures before evacuating.

Lee Hunt, the president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors said that this rig is different from Deepwater Horizon, which dumped millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf after exploding last spring, because it is not floating and is likely a “fixed, manned production platform.”

There are about 3,400 oil platforms operating in the Gulf, and together they pump about a third of the US domestic oil, forming the backbone of the United State’s petroleum industry.

Phone messages left for Mariner Energy were not immediately returned, but the press release from the company commented on its oil production:

“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.”

Tags:  explodes, gulf, gulf oil explosion, leak, Mariner Energy, Mexico, oil, oil leak, oil platform, platform