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Oil platform explodes off US coast; crew rescued

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-09-03 09:41

Boats spray water to extinguish a fire on an oil and gas platform operated by Mariner Energy off the Louisiana coast September 2, 2010. The oil and gas platform burst into flames in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, but the crew of 13 escaped and there were no signs of an oil spill, the US Coast Guard said.[Photo/Agencies]

NEW ORLEANS - An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months. This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one was killed.

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The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile (1.6 kilometers) long had begun to spread from the site of the blast, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of the source of BP's massive spill. But hours later, Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said crews were unable to find any spill.

The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the explosion.

Mariner officials said there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they were shut down shortly before the fire broke out.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said the company told him the fire began in 100 barrels of light oil condensate, but officials did not know yet what sparked the flames.

The Coast Guard said Mariner Energy initially reported the oil sheen. In a public statement, the company said an initial flyover did not show any oil.

Photos from the scene showed at least five ships floating near the platform. Three of them were shooting great plumes of water onto the machinery. Light smoke could be seen drifting across the deep blue waters of the gulf.

By late afternoon, the fire on the platform was out.

The platform is in about 340 feet (103 meters) of water and about 100 miles (160 kilometers) south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion that killed 11 workers.

Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles to access equipment on the sea floor.

A Homeland Security update obtained by The Associated Press said the platform was producing 58,800 gallons (222,000 liters) of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons (15,900 liters) of oil.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said the administration has "response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water."

All 13 of the platform's crew members were rescued from the water.