LA Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
(BSEE) Responds to Explosion in the Gulf of Mexico that Killed 1 Worker and
Injured 3 Others
11/20/2014
NEW ORLEANS- The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement
(BSEE) is responding to an explosion at West Delta 105 in the Gulf of Mexico,
approximately 12 miles off the coast of New Orleans. The offshore oil and gas
operator, Fieldwood Energy, reported the explosion on its Echo Platform just
before 3pm this afternoon.
The operator has reported that there is one fatality and three
others being treated at an onshore medical facility as a result of the
incident. The Echo Platform was not in production at the time of the incident.
The facility damage was limited to the explosion area and there was no
pollution reported.
BSEE is coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard during the
response. BSEE will investigate the incident. More information will be provided
as it becomes available.
Media Inquiries: Chauntra Rideaux, 504-731-7847
The offshore oil and gas operator, Fieldwood Energy, reported
the explosion on its Echo Platform just before 3 p.m. Thursday, Rideaux said in
a news release sent out about 8 p.m.
The bureau is a part of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
Fieldwood Energy said one person was killed and three others
were being treated at an onshore medical facility as a result of the explosion,
she said.
The person killed and one of the people injured were private
contractors, company spokeswoman Shannon Savoy said in an email statement.
“We have accounted for all other personnel who were working at
the facility. This was an isolated incident that has been fully contained,” she
said.
The Echo Platform was not in production at the time of the
incident, she said. The facility’s damage was limited to the explosion area and
there was no pollution reported, she said.
The U.S. Coast Guard provided a fly-over of the platform to
assess damage, but did not provide further assistance, an agency spokesman said
Thursday night.
The bureau is coordinating the response with the U.S. Coast
Guard, and the bureau will investigate the incident, Rideaux said.
Fieldwood is a Houston-based portfolio company of Riverstone
Holdings LLC, according to the company website.
It was founded in December 2012 and has amassed the largest
drilling asset base in the Gulf of Mexico, according to the website. Fieldwood
mainly does shallow-water drilling.
Matt McCarroll, the company’s president and CEO, is an LSU
graduate and Baton Rouge native, according to the Fieldwood website.
Fieldwood is working with emergency responders, Savoy said in
the statement.
“In the interim, our thoughts and prayers are with the families
of the deceased and injured contractor employees,” she said.