An explosion on an offshore oil production platform in the Gulf of Mexico has injured one person, but all 13 people aboard have been accounted for, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday.
The explosion happened before 10:30 a.m. Thursday about 130 kilometres south of Vermilion Bay, La.
Investigators don't know what caused the explosion, a coast guard spokesman said.
http://xml.channel.aol.com/xmlpublisher/fetch.v2.xml?option=expand_relative_urls&dataUrlNodes=uiConfig,feedConfig,entry&id=879459&pid=879458&uts=1283445128
http://cdn.channel.aol.com/cs_feed_v1_6/csfeedwrapper.swf
Gulf of Mexico Oil Pictures
The Transocean Development Driller III, the rig responsible for drilling the main relief well at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil wellhead, is seen on the Gulf of Mexico near the coast of Louisiana, Saturday, Aug. 14, 2010. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
AP
FR158704 AP
Gulf Oil Spill
This detailed astronaut photograph from May 4, 2010 released by the NASA Earth Observatory shows the oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from ruptured pipes deep on the ocean floor. The Mississippi River Delta and nearby Louisiana coast (image top) appear dark in the sunglint that illuminates most of the image. Oil on the water smoothes the surface texture, and the mirror-like reflection of the Sun accentuates the difference between the smooth, oil-covered water (dark to light gray ) and the rougher water of the reflective ocean surface (colored silver to white). Among the coastal ecosystems threatened by the spill are the Chandeleur Islands (image right center). BP officials desperately searched on May 10, 2010 for a new fix to the enormous Gulf of Mexico oil spill after efforts to cap a gushing leak with a containment dome hit a perilous snag. AFP PHOTO / NASA EARTH OBSERVATORY - EXPEDITION 23 CREW = RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE (Photo credit should read EXPEDITION 23 CREW/AFP/Getty Images)
Gulf Oil Spill
FILE - In this July 15, 2009, file photo, Sen. Jeff Sessions, D-Ala., ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee take part listens during a confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. A Gulf senator and offshore drilling supporter, Sessions has met at least twice with BP officials since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "For the most part, we have similar interests at this point. The American people, the national interest, and BP's interest in shutting off this well," he said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
Gulf Oil Spill
FILE - In this March 3, 2010, file photo, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Asked what impact the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would have on BP's political influence McConnell said, "I'm sure it's not helpful. This is a disaster of major proportions, and we need to get to the bottom of what happened." British-based BP, No. 4 on Fortune magazine's list of the world's largest companies, spent $16 million last year lobbying Congress and the federal government, and $3.5 million in the first three months of this year. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
Gulf Oil Spill
FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2009, file photo, Senate Homeland Security Committee member Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., talks with an aide on Capitol Hill in Washington. Louisana is a big employer in the oil and gas industry, and on the receiving end of washed-up oil from the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Landrieu sits on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, one of the panels investigating the spill. (AP Photo/Harry Hamburg, File)
Gulf Oil Spill
FILE - In this July 29, 2008 file photo, Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass. speaks at the National Press Club in Washington. Kerry disclosed family stock holdings of up to $15,000 in BP and $65,000 to $150,000 in Transocean. Asked whether he would recuse himself from the investigation of the BP oil spill in light of that, his press secretary Whitney Smith called the question "preposterous." "Senator Kerry has been the Senate's best environmental champion for more than 25 years and next week (referring to the week of May 10), will unveil legislation to end our dependence on foreign oil," Smith said. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)
Gulf Oil Spill
Robert Campo, whose family owns a marina in Shell Beach, La., poses Wednesday, May 5, 2010, beside a monument to victims of Hurricane Katrina in the settlement of Shell Beach, La. (AP Photo/John Flesher)
Gulf Oil Spill
Charter boat captain Charlie Thomason, left, and Michael Campo discuss a boat fuel purchase Wednesday, May 5, 2010, at the Campo family marina in Shell Beach, La. (AP Photo/John Flesher)
Gulf Oil Spill
A fishing boat heads down a bayou at Shell Beach, La., toward the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/John Flesher)
Gulf Oil Spill
Ed "Mopey" Schaumburg, a retiree and avid fisherman, discusses the loss of coastal wetlands caused by a shipping canal near Shell Beach, La., on Wednesday, May 5, 2010. (AP Photo/John Flesher)
Gulf Oil Spill
In this Wednesday, May 5, 2010 photo, George Jackson, 53, left, helps deck hand Danny Sain, 51, load crab traps onto a truck on May 5 in Hopedale, La. They were forced to empty the catch at sea because of the fishing ban in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Vicki Smith)
Gulf Oil Spill
The rig belongs to Mariner Energy, an independent oil and gas exploration company based in Houston.
The platform was not in active production at the time of the explosion. There were no reports of environmental damage, though White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration would continue to gather information.
"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs told reporters gathered for the daily White House news conference.
The coast guard sent eight rescue helicopters to the scene, four each from its stations in New Orleans and Houston, said Petty Officer Bill Colclough.
Three coast guard ships and four civilian vessels were also responding, Colclough said.
Earlier reports from WWL, a CBS affiliate in New Orleans, said "dozens of people" were injured.
The explosion comes 4½ months after the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers and setting off a massive spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Before the BP oil well could be capped, an estimated 4.9 million barrels or 780 million litres of oil gushed out into the ocean.
In addition to more traditional oil assets on land, Mariner Energy owns numerous "high-impact, high-risk exploration in the deepwater" offshore assets, according to its most recent annual report.
At the end of 2009, the company had interests in nearly 350 offshore leases in the Gulf of Mexico, with more than 110 of those in development.
The NYSE-listed company had $1.3 billion US in revenues last year.
