LOUISIANA 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.