From the Wall Street Journal:

Mariner Energy’s oil and gas platform continued to burn in the Gulf of Mexico more than three hours after it was reported to be engulfed in flame, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal said Thursday at a news conference in Baton Rouge.

But company says the fire has been contained and is close to being burned out, the governor said. Thirteen workers were stranded in the water but were rescued and transferred to another platform, the Coast Guard said.

Mr. Jindal emphasized that all information on the accident is preliminary, noting that early reports on the Deepwater Horizon disaster suggested that the well was not leaking; that incident, which began April 20, left 11 dead and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

The Mariner platform is about 100 miles south of Vermilion Bay and about 245 miles southwest of the site of the Deepwater Horizon disaster, operating in relatively shallow water.

Officials have received conflicting reports on whether or not an oily sheen is streaking the waters of the Gulf from the Mariner platform, said Mr. Jindal, a Republican who has been urging the federal government to allow drilling to resume in the Gulf.

But Mariner has told the state that all seven wells attached to the platform have been successfully shut down, he said, making it likely that the fire is being fed by petroleum stored on the platform. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.