Worker killed in platform explosion offshore Louisiana

Nov. 21, 2014
An explosion that occurred on Nov. 20 at the Fieldwood Energy LLC-operated West Delta 105 E offshore platform, also known as Echo, in the Gulf of Mexico, 12 miles offshore New Orleans, killed one contracted employee and seriously injuring another, according to reports from the company and US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

An explosion that occurred on Nov. 20 at the Fieldwood Energy LLC-operated West Delta 105 E offshore platform, also known as Echo, in the Gulf of Mexico, 12 miles offshore New Orleans, killed one contracted employee and seriously injuring another, according to reports from the company and US Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

Three injured workers were moved on Nov. 20 to an onshore medical facility. Fieldwood said it has accounted for all other personnel who were working at the facility, which was not damaged.

The company says the incident has been fully contained. The pumping facility wasn’t operating at the time of the explosion, and no pollution resulted from the incident.

Fieldwood is a Houston-based portfolio company of Riverstone Holdings LLC, a New York-based private equity firm. Fieldwood last year acquired more than 500 blocks and 1.9 million net acres in the gulf from Apache Corp. for $3.75 billion (OGJ Online, July 18, 2013).

The company expanded its gulf acreage this year with a $750-million acquisition from SandRidge Energy Inc. (OGJ Online, Jan. 7, 2014). As of that transaction, Fieldwood reported a pro-forma leasehold with more than 650 blocks and net production of 125,000 boe/d, 54% of which was oil.