Gulf Of Mexico, Oil Rig Explosion | featured news

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 Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Coast Guard and the rig's owner.

Coast Guard crews continued searching for two workers missing after an explosion and fire aboard a Gulf of Mexico oil rig on Friday that was apparently triggered by workers using a blow torch to cut a pipe.

Two people were missing and four people were airlifted to a hospital Friday after an oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico some 17 miles southeast of Grand Isle, La., the U.S. Coast Guard told NBC News.

Halliburton and BP knew weeks before the blast on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico that the cement mixture they planned to use to seal the well was unstable, a commission found.

There is no sign of an oil spill after a rig caught fire in the Gulf of Mexico, a spokesman for rig operator Mariner Energy said.

An offshore oil rig has exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused a massive oil spill.

US President Barack Obama is due to meet relatives of the 11 workers killed in an explosion on the BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico.A presidential spokesman said he would express his condolences to relatives.

Administration wants investigations into a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico to be completed before any expansion of offshore oil drilling.

BP Plc will clean up an oil spill from one of its wells in the Gulf of Mexico and compensate those affected, its chief executive said, accepting that the disaster could hit plans to open new areas off the U.S. coast to drilling.