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An explosion on an oil rig south of Vermilion Bay sent the 13 people on board into the water Thursday morning around 9:30 a.m.

The incident happened 90 miles south of Vermillion Bay. (See map)

Coast Guard spokesman Bill Colclough said all 13 people have been accounted for and that one of them was injured. The injured person is going to be taken to Terrebonne General Medical Center.
Colclough said the rig owned by Mariner Energy was still on fire as of 11 a.m. and that reports are that it wasn’t an active well.
Four Coast Guard choppers from New Orleans and four from Houston were in route to the scene. A vessel was also in transit.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau says some of those from the rig were spotted in emergency flotation devices.

Mariner Energy focuses on oil and gas exploration and production company focused on the Gulf of Mexico. In April, Apache Corp., another independent petroleum company, announced plans to buy Mariner in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.2 billion of Mariner's debt. That deal
is pending.

Apache spokesman Bob Dye said the rig is in shallow water.

Responding to an oil spill in shallow water is much easier than in deepwater, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor.

The platform is about 200 miles west of BP's blown out Macondo well. On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blow-out preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would complete the choke of the well. The BP-leased rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a massive oil spill.

All 13 workers on board a Mariner Energy-operated fixed platform on fire offshore Louisiana have been evacuated and safely accounted for, Houston-based Mariner reported today. Contrary to earlier media reports, no injuries have been reported, and no hydrocarbon spill was seen in an initial flyover of the site, Mariner said.

The cause of the fire that broke out this morning at Vermilion Block 380, located 102 miles off the central Louisiana coast, is unknown. An investigation into the incident will be conducted. Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident.

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson told Rigzone.com that seven helicopters, two fixed wind aircraft, and four Coast Guard cutters have been sent to assist in the rescue effort. The New Orleans Coast Guard office received a call at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning from a commercial helicopter company reporting the blast.

Mariner is sole operator and owner of the platform, which is a 24-hour, manned fixed platform with two decks, heliport and crane. The platform was installed in early 1980 in 340 feet of water, and has produced both oil and natural gas since 1982. According to the U.S. Interior Department, the platform was undergoing maintenance and was not in active production when the fire broke out.

Water depth at Vermilion Block 380, which Mariner has leased since 1974, ranges from 319 feet to 368 feet.

During the last week of August 2010, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 MMcf/d and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate.

According to Rigzone.com, the Mariner platform makes a significant contribution to Gulf of Mexico production as a relatively high-volume lease and platform.

In June 2010, gas production from Vermilion Block 380 was approximately 296 Bcf, or 10 Bcf/d, which is about 3.5 times the average gas production for other leases in the same general area of the U.S. Gulf. This area includes the Eugene Island, West Cameron, East Cameron, South Marsh Island and Eugene Island lease areas.

During the same month, oil production from Vermilion Block 380 was approximately 53,000 barrels, about 2,000 b/d, which is about 10 times the average oil production for other leases in the same general area of the Gulf.

Vermilion Block 380 also is among the top six percent of gas producing leases in this area of the Gulf, with the 26th highest gas production of any producing block in the area, which encompasses more than 480 natural gas producing leases.

The lease also is in the top two percent of oil producing leases in this area of the Gulf, with the 7th highest oil production of any producing block in the area, which includes more than 420 oil producing leases.