Gulf Oil Trouble: Another Explosion

While the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill still troubles the people of the Gulf Coast, another big occurred. On the morning of September 2, 2010, an offshore petroleum platform exploded about 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

Mariner Energy's Vermilion Rig 380 exploded about 90 miles south of Vermilion Bay and the Coast Guard is investigating. There are no reported deaths and one accounted injury. Workers on the rig were discovered in emergency flotation devices aftera commercial helicopter flying overhead spotted the incident.

Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters were dispatched to the scene. The Department of Homeland Security, which also investigates these matters, reported that the platform was in about 2500 feet of water and was not producing oil. Whether there is oil leaking from the site is not known at this time.

Mariner Energy, headquartered in Houston, Texas, is a leading independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Gulf of Mexico. About 85% of the company's production comes from offshore operations. Mariner Energy's onshore assets are concentrated in areas which include the Gulf Coast, and which comprise more than half of the company's nearly 1.1 trillion cubic feet equivalent in proved reserves . With the company holding more than 1,000 potential drilling locations, Mariner Energy's operations are focused on infill drilling and exploration.

As the news of the oil rig explosion and fire spread across the news , Mariner Energy's stocks dipped. While there are no reports of oil leaks, the incident is causing many to recall the recent problems caused by the BP explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig, which killed 11 workers and resulted in about 200 million gallons of oil being leaked into the Gulf.

Time will only tell if this incident will have impact on the environment or the future of Mariner Energy's which was slated to be bought by Apache Corporation, a fifty-plus year old independent energy company that explores for, develops and produces natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids.