San Francisco: A fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico caused the emergency evacuation of 28 personnel on Friday.
All 28 workers aboard were taken from the platform onto a nearby supply vessel and then to the shore. No one was hurt, according to the US Coast Guard (USCG).
The incident, in shallow waters near Breton Island, 20 miles offshore New Orleans, Louisiana, was on a rig owned by Texas Petroleum Investment Co, based in Houston.
Fire crews were fighting the blaze into Friday evening.
The well was shut and production closed down.
After initially estimating a possible release quantity of 4,000 barrels of oil into the water, the USCG scaled back its number to 130 barrels while also reporting from aerial observation that there was a visible 1.4 nautical mile “rainbow sheen” on the water.
A spokesman for Texas Petroleum Investment said the platform can produce up to 2,200 barrels per day of crude oil from up to 60 wells. That’s relatively modest by industry standards.
It was unclear what caused the incident, which happened in waters overseen by the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources because of its relative proximity to the shore.
