US offshore rig on fire after gas blowout

An out-of-control natural gas well ignited a fire on a rig off the coast of the U.S. state of Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico, authorities said on Wednesday. The rig caught fire on Tuesday night hours after the gas well was found spewing out of control, prompting the evacuation of 44 workers, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement ( BSEE) announced early Wednesday morning. No one was on board at the time of the ignition and nobody was injured, said the BSEE. The source of the ignition remained unknown. The blowout occurred on a shallow-water well about 88 km offshore as the crew were completing work on a sidetrack well to prepare that well for new production. The rig is owned by Houston-based Hercules Offshore and operated by Walter Oil & Gas Corp. The two companies are reportedly working together with the federal authorities to curb the uncontrolled gas flow. The BSEE said on Tuesday evening that a firefighting vessel was expected to be on location with both water and foam firefighting abilities. A Coast Guard cutter is reportedly on the scene maintaining a 500-meter safety zone. It remains unclear what caused the gas blowout. Authorities said that there is no oil spill, and that the magnitude of this accident cannot compare with the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded off the Louisiana coast, leading to a blowout that lasted for almost three months and spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf. It was the worst accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry.