The story is wrong. This is a Production Platform, not what most commonly refer to as a “RIG” (drilling rig). Big difference.
Some of these production platforms off Louisiana are getting pretty old. Wondering of this Black Elk used to be Kerr-McGee, this sounds like their old area.
Black Elk doesn’t know whether there were any injuries or deaths as a result of the fire, Leslie Hoffman, a spokeswoman for the Houston-based company, said in a phone interview. Hoffman couldn’t confirm whether it was on a platform or drilling rig. Black Elk is collecting information about the fire and should know more this afternoon, she said.
Black Elk holds stakes in more than 854 wells on 155 platforms off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf, in water depths ranging from less than 10 feet (3 meters) to more than 6,000 feet, according to its website.
More Info, not drilling rig as you said:
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The rig was not used for drilling, Thompson said, but was a production unit used to pump oil to the surface. It was not in production at the time of the fire.
“There was some construction on board and then the fire may have broken out as a cause of that construction.”
Thompson said although the rig was not in production, the coast guard had received a report that there was some kind of substance in the water nearby.
“We did have one report of a sheen which was a dark sheen, appearing to be oil, underneath the surface of the water, at a 200ft wide by 1.5 mile long sheen, but we haven’t confirmed exactly what that sheen is, whether or not it’s oil or some other substance. We’re assuming it’s oil but we haven’t confirmed that yet.”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/16/black-elk-oil-rig-explosion