oil platform News

oil platform News From AOL News

Vermilion Bay Explosion Update: Rig Fire Put Out, Oil Sheen Still Unconfirmed [SATELLITE IMAGE]

(Sept. 3) -- The fire on the Vermilion 380 oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday has been successfully put out, the U.S. Coast Guard reported in an update late Thursday night. Here's a satellite image of the fire shortly after it broke out Thursday, via NASA: According to the press release from...

After Gulf Blast, Drilling Ban Debate Intensifies

(Sept. 2) -- The explosion and fire on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico has intensified the debate over the Obama administration's temporary ban on deepwater drilling in the gulf, even though the accident apparently did not involve drilling and the ban doesn't apply to the installation because it's in shallow...

Exploded Oil Platform Was Damaged by Hurricane Ike, SEC Filing Reveals

(Sept. 2) -- The oil platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico today, 90 miles off the coast of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay, was damaged by Hurricane Ike in 2008, according to documents filed by the platform's holding company, Mariner Energy. "Hurricane Ike damaged the structure with the rig on the platform, causing us...

Diesel Tanker Runs Aground in the Arctic

(Sept. 2) -- On some days, the fuel tank sure feels half empty. Mere hours after an oil platform explosion ripped through the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday afternoon, a tanker carrying 2.4 million gallons of diesel fuel has reportedly run aground in the Northwest Passage, the Arctic waterway above the Canadian mainland....

What Exploded Off Vermilion Bay: An Oil Rig or a Platform?

(Sept. 2) -- As news broke on Thursday of yet another explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, several media outlets proclaimed that an "oil rig" had gone up in flames, echoing the devastating accident at BP's Deepwater Horizon rig. But as the story unfolds, the U.S. Coast Guard is taking pains to draw a distinction between oil...

Background on oil platform

An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a large structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing.

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