Oil platform explodes off La. coast

[BullHound]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/ns/us_news-life

[MudDucker]

Said it is not an active production platform. Sure seems strange that all of a sudden we are having one oil rig disaster after another.

[boggob]

Updates are stating that is was actively in production and there is sheen.

[big bend gyrene]

Update at 2:51 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Donna Leinwand reports that Mariner, the oil company that owns the Vermillion platform, reports that oil has spilled into the water, according to U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Elizabeth Bordelon. The oil sheen at the site measures one mile by 100 feet, Bordelon says. The company is unsure where the oil came from since the well was not producing at the time of the explosion, she says.

Update at 1:25 p.m. ET: USA TODAY's Alan Levin reports that the platform is owned by Mariner Energy, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The agency said that the platform was authorized to produce oil and natural gas, but had been undergoing maintenance at the time of the accident and was not producing.

[Scoop Sea]

Good Afternoon Gents:

As luck would have it, I came back to the DWH-BP Oil Spill Command Post here in Mobile this week to work and then "boom" this happens today.

The good news is the fact that all of the workers made it off the platform safely. Also possible good news: from what I am hearing, it appears that the oil in the water may have been from the oil storage tanks on the platform and not from the piping. This would make sense. In past platform fires, the tanks on the platforms have been the cause of the fires/explosions. Lastly, I was advised that they believe that the wellhead valves properly closed.

Folks should remember that platforms are generally much safer than drilling rigs (as per releases), as these are the "stable" formations put into place after the drilling has been completed.

What really concerns me personally is Gaston. That rascal is just making me nervous for some reason.

I'll keep ya'll posted if I hear anything that sounds credible.

[Flint River Pirate]

Welcome back Scoop. If I had your cell phone number I would have called you today. please keep us posted, I appreciate your info and insight.

[silverking]

CBS reported all workers are safe and released from the hospital. No sheen or leaking oil and the fire is out.

[Dubble Trubble]

Once again, the news media dupes folks into watching a bunch of ads by baiting you with OIL IS SPILLED! headlines.

Go sheeple....after all, everybody needs another Chop-Chop, or a product liability lawyer, right?

Dubble

[MudDucker]

All "news" people want to be first, not accurate.