One of the things Mariner Energy Inc. is known for is the frequent fires they experience with fires and safety issues. This again occurred on Thursday when their platform on the Gulf of Mexico had caught on fire. Since 2007, the company has experienced 16 fires on their platforms right off of the Gulf of Mexico. In 2009, the company experienced 2 of these 16 fires. Though these spills, injuries, and fires are not unusual it is a little concerning that they have been happening so frequently with a huge enterprise like Mariner Energy Inc.
Mariner Energy Inc. is a large oil and gas company that is based out of Houston, TX. In April Mariner Energy agreed to be bought by Apache Corp. for $2.7 billion in cash and stock. Though this deal has yet to close, this is very important since Mariner gets more than 85% of it's oil and gas from the Gulf of Mexico. That is also why fires are such a big deal for this company. They cannot afford to keep having these troubles since they rely on the Gulf of Mexico so much.
The pump that caught on fire Thursday, which is known as a Vermillion 380-A, was built in 1980 and has been pumping gas ever since then and has never experienced any troubles with fires and such. At the end of August, this platform had been pumping about 2,930 barrels/day. Though these fires have been occurring frequently, Brian Lively, an analyst with Tudor Pickering Holt & Co. which is also based out of Houston said that these fires will not interfere with the acquisition. But Apache was not going to comment on the story
-Michael Sheinfeld
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