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Platform Fire Injures Three in U.S. Gulf

Platform Fire Injures Three in U.S. Gulf

gCaptain
Total Views: 32
September 26, 2012

File photo of a W&T Offshore platform.

A fire at a Gulf of Mexico platform owned by W&T Offshore Inc. (WTI) injured three people, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The fire at the platform about 40 miles offshore New Orleans was extinguished by 2 p.m. local time, Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Bobby Nash said. The Coast Guard is currently investigating the cause of the fire.

A W&T Offshore representative wasn’t immediately available for comment. The company is an independent oil and natural gas acquisition, exploitation and exploration company, according to its website.

-By Ben Lefebvre. (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Update:  According to Bloomberg, Dave Smith, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, says that the BSEE is currently investigating an oil sheen measuring 600 yards by a half- mile. The fire is out and the entire plant has been shut in, Smith added.

The platform is at Ship Shoal Block 223, about 40 miles south of Louisiana, he said. The agency received reports of the fire at about 11:30 a.m. New York time.

“It appears to have been a minor situation that is now under control,” Lisa Elliott, a spokeswoman for the company who works for Houston-based Dennard Rupp Gray & Lascar LLC, said by e-mail. “The fire is out and the injuries were very minor.”

W&T Offshore’s Janet Yang said the accident occurred on an oil-processing platform, not a drilling rig, according to a report by Al.com.  The report also says that three rig workers were evacuated and with two suffering injuries.

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