More problems in the gulf of mexico as another oil platform caught fire. The platform (Vermilion Oil Rig 380) belongs to Mariner Energy. The company released a statement saying that all 13 of the people that were forced overboard due to the fire have been rescued, and that the fire was not started by an explosion. The exact cause is still under investigation, but it did start at one of the platform’s active wells.
The Mariner Energy rig is located in the gulf of mexico about 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana. If you’ve been watching the news at all in the past few months, then you know that Louisiana and the whole gulf region have been dealing with the explosion and oil spill that occurred from the Deepwater Horizon, which exploded April 20th and was finally stopped on July 15th. Owned by BP, the Deepwater Horizon spill is the largest ever recorded in the petroleum industry, spilling an estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the gulf. According to Mariner Energy, no oil is leaking from their well that started the fire on the Vermilion Oil Rig 380.