By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 3 -- Mariner Energy Inc. reported a fire was extinguished Sept. 2 at its production platform in 340 ft of water on Vermilion Block 380 in the Gulf of Mexico about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay, La.
No injuries were reported although 13 workers evacuated the platform by going into the water until the crew of an offshore supply vessel pulled them from the water.
Automated shutoff equipment on the platform safely turned off the flow of oil and gas from the platform's seven producing wells, Mariner said in a news release.
Mariner is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause of the fire remains unknown, and an investigation was under way. The US Coast Guard received a report of an explosion on Vermilion Block 380 from a helicopter in the area at 9:19 a.m. on Sept. 2.
The USCG in New Orleans responded with vessels and aircraft to the explosion. It later reported no evidence of an oil spill and continued to monitor the platform after the fire was extinguished.
Jim Noe, executive director of the Shallow Water Energy Security Coalition (SWESC), told OGJ on Sept. 3 that the Mariner incident was an industrial accident that could have happened at any industrial site.
He noted differences between the Mariner platform fire and the Apr. 20 fire and explosion to Transocean Ltd.’s Deepwater Horizon semisubmersible drilling rig.
The Deepwater Horizon drilled the Macondo well in 5,000 ft of water on Mississippi Canyon Block 252 for BP PLC and partners. A massive oil spill resulted after a blowout of the Macondo well.
“We should wait for the facts before we use what happened today on a production platform as a reason to stop offshore drilling, especially when the incident didn’t have any anything to do with offshore drilling,” Noe said. “The fire occurred on a production platform, not a drilling rig and no drilling operations were involved.”
SWESC represents drilling contractors and others working in the shallow-water gulf.
