Safety crews are battling to regain control of a Gulf of Mexico well after an accident off the Louisiana coast late last night.
Gas, water and and are flowing from the EnVen-operated Rowan Louisiana rig, around 108 miles south west of Lafayette.
Nobody was hurt in the incident, but more than 40 staff have been evacuated from rig while efforts to bring the well back under control continue.
““It’s blowing gas and formation water. We are circulating seawater to try to get it under control,” said EnVen chief operating officer Jonathan Garrett.
“We’re very concerned about a fire and taking all the precautions we can to keep that from happening.”
A spokesman for the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement said no visible sheen had yet been seen on the water, with the gas flow having been diverted.
“All production was shut-in and remains shut-in,” the agency said.
Coastguard crews have been monitoring the rig, which was drilling in around 262 feet of water.
Last summer a gas blowout on the Hercules 265 rig off the Louisiana coast saw it catch fire and partially collapse.