Mere hours after BP settles, the US Coast Guard confirms there is an offshore (shallow water) platform burning in the Gulf of Mexico in the area of West Delta Block 32 (near West Cote Blanche Bay). The platform is owned by Black Elk Energy and is about 25 miles southeast of Grand Isle.
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Local TV [6] says that two people are dead and two people are missing after an explosion at the platform. More to come...
- UPDATE:Gulf rig fire was result of rig explosion at oil/gas platform "West Delta 32"owned by Black Elk Oil, ac. to Coast Guard
Via AP [7]:
WEST COTE BLANCHE, La. (AP) — Coast Guard officials say they are investigating a fire at an oil drilling platform off the coast of Louisiana.
A parish officials says the rig is not drilling at a deepwater site like the Macondo well that blew out in 2010. That blowout led to an explosion that killed 11 workers and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
Jefferson Parish Councilman Chris Roberts tells WWL-TV that the platform is a shallow water platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It is near West Cote Blanche Bay, south of New Iberia on the south-central Louisiana coast.
The Coast Guard says it has activated a command center to investigate the fire.
The size of the fire was not immediately clear, nor was it known if there were any injuries.
And from Reuters:
An offshore oil and natural gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico burst into flames on Friday, killing at least two people and leaving two missing, officials in Louisiana said.
The structure is owned by Black Elk, an energy firm in Houston, according to media reports on local television in Louisiana. Black Elk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
An official from Jefferson Parish confirmed there were two deaths and two people missing. A Coast Guard official told cable news network CNN that at least six people had been aboard the platform. He said the Coast Guard has search and rescue helicopters en route to the stricken platform.
According to local media reports, the platform produced both oil and natural gas and is located around 17 miles offshore Grand Isle, Louisiana.