Another Gulf oil rig explodes
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It started at one of platform's seven active wells, the company said. All the wells were shut after the explosion.
![Another oil rig exploded and caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and there is no indication of oil sheen, officials said. 13 workers waited to be rescued. [Xinhua]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20100903/000cf1bdd03f0dea89a702.jpg "Another oil rig exploded and caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and there is no indication of oil sheen, officials said. 13 workers waited to be rescued. [Xinhua]") |
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Another oil rig exploded and caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, and there is no indication of oil sheen, officials said. 13 workers waited to be rescued. [Xinhua] |
The company also confirmed that the 13 workers on the rig "have been evacuated and safely accounted for," and "now injuries have been reported."
"In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported," it added.
"Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to the incident," the company said, adding that the cause of the fire is not known and "an investigation will be undertaken."
During the last week of August, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate, according to Mariner Energy.
The platform is reportedly in about 340 feet of water, a location considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig had been gushing oil into the ocean for three months after the April 20 explosion.
U.S. President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting when the explosion was reported, said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.
"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.
Mariner Energy said it has principal operations in the Permian Basin, South Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. The company said it had interests in about 350 federal offshore leases last year, with more than 110 of them in development.
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