ChiTribune: Oil Platform Explodes Off Louisiana Coast; 2 missing, 4 injured

[Ellis]

An oil platform exploded off of the coast of Louisiana, injuring at least four people, the Coast Guard said Friday. Officials were searching for at least two people who were believed to be missing.

The explosion took place about 9 a.m. local time, sparking a fire on the platform that has since been extinguished, a Coast Guard spokesman, Chief Bobby Nash, said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.

At least four people were evacuated from the platform, about 25 miles off the coast of Louisiana near Grand Isle, and taken to a hospital. There was no immediate word on their condition, Nash said.

There were reports in some of the local media that at least two people had died, but Nash said those reports have not been confirmed.

Two people are believed to have jumped from the platform and were being sought. “We have assets searching the area,” Nash said.

At least one helicopter, an airplane and small boats were sent to the area for the search.

The accident took place a day after BP admitted criminal liability in the 2010 oil spill that wracked the Gulf of Mexico. BP entered a guilty plea to a variety of charges, including manslaughter and lying to Congress about the spill that began with an explosion on an oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon. In addition to pleading guilty, BP agreed to pay more than $4.5 billion in penalties.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-nn-oil-platform-explosion-20121116,0,1723541.story

[Renegade7]

Manslaughter charges? Is anyone actually going to get jail time for DeepHorizon?

[DogofWar1]

Sounds like they shut off the pipes before this happened, so hopefully there's no pollution, or very localized pollution.

But seriously, there are clearly a ton of problems with these rigs. I'm not necessarily for NOT drilling off-shore, but clearly there are flaws with the current setup.

[Riggo-toni]

Drilling in Anwar would carry far less risks, particularly environmental, but politicians will continue to lie about the safety of offshore drilling while in the next breath excoriating the proposal to drill in the frozen tundra of Alaska as anti-environmental extremism.

[twa]

But seriously, there are clearly a ton of problems with these rigs. I'm not necessarily for NOT drilling off-shore, but clearly there are flaws with the current setup.

a ton of problems?

They do very well in a very dangerous profession with thousands of wells going......probably less fires on rigs than Volts on fire

add

idiot contractors

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Coast-Guard-reports-offshore-platform-burning-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-179668691.html

Workers on the platform, which produces oil and natural gas, are contractors and do not work for the company directly, Hoffman said.

At the time of the fire, the workers were cutting a 75-foot pipe that was 3 inches in diameter and contained as much as 75 gallons of product, Hoffman said.

The process for cutting the pipe calls for a “cold-cutting device,” or a non-sparking tool, Hoffman said. However, he confirmed that a cutting torch was used instead, which ignited the vapors in the pipe.

The Coast Guard said that there is a half-mile by 200-yard oil sheen from the platform. The platform was not in production at the time of the fire and remains structurally sound, the spokesman added.

[DogofWar1]

a ton of problems?

They do very well in a very dangerous profession with thousands of wells going......probably less fires on rigs than Volts on fire

add

idiot contractors

http://www.khou.com/news/local/Coast-Guard-reports-offshore-platform-burning-in-Gulf-of-Mexico-179668691.html

Workers on the platform, which produces oil and natural gas, are contractors and do not work for the company directly, Hoffman said.

At the time of the fire, the workers were cutting a 75-foot pipe that was 3 inches in diameter and contained as much as 75 gallons of product, Hoffman said.

The process for cutting the pipe calls for a “cold-cutting device,” or a non-sparking tool, Hoffman said. However, he confirmed that a cutting torch was used instead, which ignited the vapors in the pipe.

The Coast Guard said that there is a half-mile by 200-yard oil sheen from the platform. The platform was not in production at the time of the fire and remains structurally sound, the spokesman added.

I probably should have said tons of "potential" problems. Idiot contractors are one of the problems too.

Thankfully it seems like they had things in place to ensure we didn't see BP spill 2.0, but again, the margin for error out in the ocean is smaller than a well on land. I wonder how much things would have been if it had been in production at the time.

I imagine this event will be taken into account in addition to the BP spill as offshore oil rig regulations continue to evolve.

[Larry]

Workers on the platform, which produces oil and natural gas, are contractors and do not work for the company directly, Hoffman said.

Well, that makes it OK, then.

[twa]

Well, that makes it OK, then.

somehow I think someone will object to the deaths,injuries,pollution,lost production and fines.

It it is a odd line since they certainly work for the company on company property and the company is liable ...Directly

PR people are fun

[PeterMP]

Drilling in Anwar would carry far less risks, particularly environmental, but politicians will continue to lie about the safety of offshore drilling while in the next breath excoriating the proposal to drill in the frozen tundra of Alaska as anti-environmental extremism.

Do you have something to back that up?

My understanding is that cleaning up oil in the cold and snow where there isn't going to be much bio-degredation would be a real headache.

[twa]

Drilling on land is always less risky(even in that extreme environment),but you are right cleanup and degradation is harder there....even the oil eating microbes move slower there

[AsburySkinsFan]

Anyone kow the staus of the wellhead?

[DCSaints_fan]

Do you have something to back that up?

My understanding is that cleaning up oil in the cold and snow where there isn't going to be much bio-degredation would be a real headache.

If you're talking about the risks of the well going kaboom, thats going to be much less likely on land. Under water, the depth pressure gets very high the deeper you go and its harder to get to well cap and seal off a leak. That's basic physics. So any spill should be sealed off much more quickly on land.

As for cleanup, the oil is going to disperse alot more quickly over water.

For these reason I'd much rather have a spill on land than over water, even in ANWAR

[twa]

Anyone kow the staus of the wellhead?

It's fine...this was a production platform(not a drilling rig) and the flow was already off for the repair

very small spillage, no word on the two missing workers yet though

[visionary]

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/coast-guard-ends-search-2-after-oil-rig-fire

Coast Guard ends search for 2 after oil rig fire

The Coast Guard has called off its search for two workers missing after a fire broke out on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.

Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash said the search was ended at about 5:25 p.m. CST on Saturday.

[twa]

one body recovered,divers still searching for the other

http://www.chron.com/news/science/article/Company-vows-continued-search-near-burned-Gulf-rig-4047496.php