oil rig

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News on Boat That Capsized Off Louisiana Coast Is Grim

1 person has been found dead; 12 are still missing

(Newser) - An area larger than Rhode Island has been searched by Coast Guard boats and aircraft following the Tuesday afternoon capsizing of a commercial lift boat off the coast of Louisiana. There were 19 crew members aboard the offshore oil rig, also known as a jackup rig, and just six have...

Oil Rig Explodes Near New Orleans
Oil Rig Explodes
Near New Orleans

Oil Rig Explodes Near New Orleans

1 missing; at least 7 injured

(Newser) - One person is missing and at least seven people are hospitalized with injuries after an oil rig explosion on a Louisiana lake. Emergency officials say the blast happened on Lake Pontchartrain around 7pm Sunday near the city of Kenner, WDSU reports. Authorities say five of the injured people are in...

1 Body Found in Oil Rig Explosion

But another worker still missing

(Newser) - Divers hired by the owner of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico that caught fire recovered a body in the waters near the site, according to the US Coast Guard and the rig's owner. The remains of the unidentified person were found by divers hired by Houston-based...

2 Remain Missing in Oil Rig Fire

The Coast Guard continues search off Louisiana coast

(Newser) - The Coast Guard kept up its search today for two crew members who vanished in yesterday's oil rig fire off the coast of Louisiana, the Times-Picayune reports. One 87-foot Coast Guard cutter replaced another at 4am this morning after an all-night search, and three helicopter crews and a fixed-wing...

2 Missing After Explosion on Gulf Oil Rig

Early reports say 4 injured off Louisiana coast

(Newser) - A day after BP's historic settlement comes another oil rig accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Coast Guard officials say the rig exploded off the coast of Louisiana, sending four people to hospitals. Two others are believed to be missing. The rig, a production platform owned by Black Elk...

Oil Rig Workers Flee Tilting Rig

Statoil evacuates hundreds in the North Sea

(Newser) - Statoil today evacuated 326 oil rig workers from a North Sea platform after the structure began to tilt, the Norwegian oil company said. A company spokesman said most of the 374 people on the "Floatel Superior" were airlifted by helicopter after one of the floating pontoons started taking on...

Iran: We Stopped Hack on Oil Rigs

Cyberattack blamed on Israel

(Newser) - Iranian oil platforms' communication networks have been hit with an attempted cyberattack—but the country's tech experts have managed to deflect it, says an official. "This attack was planned by the regime occupying Jerusalem"—not-so-subtle code for Israel—"and a few other countries," says the...

Most Dangerous Part of Oil Jobs: Driving Home

Exemptions allow drivers to head home after 20-hour shifts

(Newser) - You know what's more dangerous than working on an oil rig? Driving home from one. More than 300 oil and gas workers have died in car crashes in the past decade, making it the top cause of death in a dangerous industry, the New York Times reports. The probable...

53 Feared Dead in Russian Oil Rig Disaster

Huge wave sank platform as it was being towed

(Newser) - Up to 53 people are believed to have perished in icy waters north of Russia's Sakhalin Island after an oil rig sank while it was being towed. Seven of the 67 people who were on board have been confirmed dead. Fourteen others were plucked from the water alive immediately...

Coast Guard Slams Transocean in Gulf Report

Shoddy equipment, poor safety training to blame in BP oil spill: probe

(Newser) - A wide array of Transocean safety failings were to blame in the Deepwater Horizon disaster last year, a Coast Guard report says. The official probe “revealed numerous systems deficiencies, and acts and omissions by Transocean and its Deepwater Horizon crew” that hampered “the ability to prevent or limit...

Gulf's Real Threat: Aging Oil Platforms

Old pipes, platforms raise the risk of failure, experts say

(Newser) - The massive Gulf oil spill raised the alarm about huge, state-of-the-art deep-water drilling rigs. But greater danger may actually come from the region's aging oil infrastructure, say experts. Older structures face increased risk of accidents, particularly fires—more than 50% of the 3,000 oil platforms in the Gulf are...

BP to Gulf Residents: Here's a Bonus ... Now Don't Sue Us!

Feinberg offering $5K to individuals who agree not to sue

(Newser) - The administrator of BP's $20 billion compensation fund is offering Gulf residents cash bonuses to speed up the process, reports the New York Times. But there's a catch: Anyone who takes the money ($5,000 for individuals, $25,000 for businesses) has to agree not to sue BP or any...

Post-Overhaul, Oil Rig Inspection Still Lacking
 Post-Overhaul, Oil Rig 
 Inspection Still Lacking 
investigation

Post-Overhaul, Oil Rig Inspection Still Lacking

Investigation: Oversight remains outdated, underfunded

(Newser) - Following the BP oil spill, the government agency tasked with supervising offshore drilling is trying to turn itself around—but the Wall Street Journal finds those efforts lacking. Though it has renamed itself—the Minerals Management Service is now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement—and gotten...

BP's Other Rig May Be Primed for Disaster

Whistleblowers have said the Atlantis isn't safe, but nothing's been done

(Newser) - Oil companies are once again happily drilling in the Gulf of Mexico—including a BP rig that watchdog groups have called a “ticking time bomb.” Well before the Deepwater Horizon explosion, a whistleblowing ex-BP contractor told the government about a host of safety and legal issues aboard the...

BP Workers Almost Saved Rig

Blowout preventer worked; crew made 2 bad calls

(Newser) - In the moments before the Deepwater Horizon blew skyward, rig workers came extraordinarily close to averting disaster, reports the Wall Street Journal in a closer look at BP's internal report on the Gulf oil spill. Contrary to popular belief, as the well failed, the blowout preventer was both deployed and...

Gulf Blaze Rattles Oil Industry

Latest accident adds to calls for more regulation

(Newser) - The latest fire on an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday may not have spilled more oil into the Gulf , but it has further polluted the industry's image. The accident is going to make it harder for the industry to argue that the Deepwater Horizon disaster...

13 Workers Rescued From Oil Platform Blast

One person injured; no oil leaks seen

(Newser) - An offshore oil platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast today, but this one appears headed toward a better ending than BP's explosion. All 13 people aboard have been rescued—though one is reportedly injured. Earlier reports that the platform was inactive have...

BP Well Almost Blew Up Months Earlier

Good thing they learned from their mistakes

(Newser) - BP knew its Macondo well was in trouble long before it exploded—because it was dealing with cracks in its seal way back in February. The company spent 10 days trying to seal up the holes, experiencing repeated difficulties that suggest it was using the wrong kind of cement. Cracks...

BP Emails: 'Who Cares? It's Done'

Engineers discussed, dismissed safety risks

(Newser) - BP engineers were well aware of all the risks they were taking with the Deepwater Horizon well, but essentially chose to ignore them because they were under pressure to finish the job quickly, emails obtained by Congress reveal. “We have flipped design parameters around to the point I got...

BP Oil Rig Had Months of Safety Worries

Well was fraught with problems going back to June 2009

(Newser) - Most of us just woke up one April day to the news that an oil rig had exploded in the Gulf, but BP knew of safety concerns at least 10 months before that, according to documents obtained by the New York Times. The highlights:
  • In June 2009, BP engineers worried
...

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