Oil Rig explosion off LA Coast, Part II

[Daniel]

Oil platform explodes in Gulf, rescues under way – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs

Rescue efforts under way after oil rig explosion in Gulf

[Posted at 11:53 a.m.] U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells CNN that 12 people from the rig are in the water immersion suits as they await rescue.

Colclough told CNN there are reports the rig is still on fire.

"We don't know what caused the rig to catch on fire," he told CNN, noting the incident is under investigation.

Asked about concerns regarding oil leaks or pollution, Colclough said "there are reports the rig was not actively producing any product, so we don't know if there's any risk of pollution."

[Posted at 11:43 a.m.] U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough tells CNN that all 13 workers involved in the rig explosion are accounted for, but one person is injured.

Coast Choppers are on the way to the site 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay.

[Posted at 11:33 a.m.] An oil rig has exploded 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, with 12 people overboard and one missing, the Coast Guard said Thursday morning.

Rescue attempts are under way for at least 12 people, Coast Guard spokesman John Edwards told CNN. 13 people were on board the rig total, Edwards said, noting 12 have been accounted for, but one person was missing.

The accident took place 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana on the Vermilion Oil rig 380, which is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy.

The Coast Guard has multiple helicopters, an airplane and several Coast Guard cutters en route. It's unknown if there are any injuries.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Another excuse to shut down gulf oil production. I hope everyone makes it out okay.

The politics will begin, once again.

[Guest jackdm3]

"all 13 crew had been safely removed from the platform"

Fire shuts Mariner oil platform in Gulf; crew safe - MarketWatch

[Guest 6.8 AR]

One good bit of news.

[Guest jackdm3]

And if they were being honest about the drill being currently inactive (not much leaking), that's another bonus.

[Kelemvor]

I wonder who's rig it is.

Edit: Nvm, I wonder who's rig it really is.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Kelemvor
correction

[Guest jackdm3]

The stockholders, in a way. Mariner Energy was to be bought by Apache, with the deal closing at the end of the 3rd quarter. This sale may change/die now.

[vontar]

What is the main oil company involved?

[Guest jackdm3]

It's hard to find out who. Some are big enough to be independent. Probably not in this case. When Transocean's rig popped several months ago, there was a short delay before BP was mentioned.

Just over four months after an explosion on BP's Deepwater Horizon rig caused the largest oil spill in history, tensions are running high with the news of another offshore oil rig blast.

Though many details have yet to emerge. It's not clear if the rig was drilling or idle or what caused the fire, though all 13 workers on board survived with one injured.

About the only concrete news to come out is that the rig is owned and operated by Houston-based Mariner Energy. But just who is Mariner?

Incorporated in 1983, Mariner has a drilling portfolio of 150,000 acres in the Permian Basin and 350 Federal offshore leases in both the continental shelf and deep water. The company has 328 employees, the vast majority of which are in the Houston headquarters, and posted a net income of $17 million in the first two quarters of 2010.

President and CEO Scott D. Josey's tenure dates to when Enron — where Josey was a vice president and managed the Energy Capital Resources group — had a controlling stake in the company.

Mariner's website includes information about their exploration, growth and acquisition models, including that:

Our exploration program is designed to facilitate organic growth through exploration in a wide variety of drilling projects, including higher-risk, high-impact projects that have the potential to create substantial value for our stockholders.

The explosion of rig Vermilion 380 could complicate a pending merger between Mariner and Apache Corporation. The deal was announced in April for Apache to purchase Mariner for $2.7 billion, giving Apache its first access to oil deposits in the Gulf of Mexico. But that figure assumes a Mariner stock price of $26.22, and after news reports of the rig fire the stock is already down more than four percent

In July, Apache also purchased fields from cash-hungry BP in West Texas, Canada and Egypt for $7 billion