Updated: GoM platform fire out, investigation launched

An investigation has been launched into a fire that broke out on an oil production platform in the US Gulf of Mexico yesterday. 

Image from the USCG Twitter.

The fire was on Renaissance Offshore's Ship Shoal-266a oil production platform in the Ship Shoal area, 80mi south of Grane Isle, Louisiana, according to the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE).

The fire was first reported to the Coast Guard Sector New Orleans at approximately 2.30am local time, about 80mi south of Grand Isle, Louisiana, according to the US Coast Guard (USCG).

Watchstanders directed the launch of an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Alabama, who were enroute to the platform as of around 6am local time, the USCG said in a statement.

BSEE, which is now investigating the fire and has staff on site, said the fire was out by 5.50am. 

As a result of the fire, production was shut in on both the A and B platforms, which are co-located and operated by Renaissance. Ten wells on Platform A and seven on Platform B were shut in before staff were evacuated from the facility.

There were four people aboard the platform at the time. They were evacuated via a life raft, according to BSEE, and recovered by the offshore supply vessel Mary Wyatt Milano. There were no reported injuries, USCG said. The four staff were flown to Terrebonne General Hospital in Houma for medical evaluation, BSEE said.

The crew of the Mary Wyatt Milano and three other offshore supply vessels assisted in fighting the fire. Clean Gulf, an oil spill response organization, was also on scene at the platform.

There was no visible oil sheen reported, says BSEE, whose inspectors are onsite and have started an investigation.

Renaissance Offshore was founded in December of 2011, in partnership with with Quantum Energy Partners, to acquire and redevelop legacy oil properties on the Gulf of Mexico shelf. 

Shortly after it was founded, the firm closed on an acquisition of the Ship Shoal 266 field, with an average water depth of 180ft, from Union Oil Company of California, a Chevron subsidiary.