*** UPDATE 10:35 PM 9-3-2010 ***

New Orleans (AP) --

The Coast Guard says a cutter that's been patrolling the area around the September 2 oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico is not reporting any signs of leaks.

A helicopter will survey the site later in the day on September 3.

The Coast Guard initially reported a sheen a mile long, but
hours later it said crews were unable to find any spill.

The 13 workers who were on the platform were rescued.
The owner of the rig, Mariner Energy of Houston, says it doesn't
know what caused the fire. The workers who were pulled from the
water afterward said there had been an explosion on board, but the
company says it considers what happened a fire, not an explosion.

-----------------------------------------------

*** UPDATE 8:50 PM 9-2-2010 ***
New Orleans, LA (AP) - An oil platform exploded and burned off the Louisiana coast Thursday, the second such disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in less than five months.
This time, the Coast Guard said there was no leak, and no one
was killed.
The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile long
and 100 feet wide had begun to spread from the site of the blast,
about 200 miles west of the source of BP's massive spill.
But hours later, Coast Guard Commander Cheri Ben-Iesau said
crews were unable to find any spill.
The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner
Energy, did not know what caused the explosion.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Mariner officials told him
there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they
were shut down shortly after the fire broke out.

*** UPDATE***
The latest updates to this story have been posted in other stories titled "Coast Guard: No Oil Sheen From Gulf Explosion" and "No Sign of Oil Spill After Gulf Platform Fire."
These latest stories indicate that no oil hit the Gulf from the disaster that occurred on an offshore petroleum platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana. These latest reports contradict what had been stated as happening earlier from the U.S. Coast Guard.

--------------------------------------

[UPDATE] (2:03PM) --

The Coast Guard is saying that a mile-long oil sheen is spreading from the site off an offshore petroleum platform that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana.

-------------------------------------------

GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) -- An offshore oil rig has exploded in the
Gulf of Mexico, west of the site of the April blast that caused the
massive oil spill.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Casey Ranel says the blast was
reported by a commercial helicopter company about 9:30 a.m. CDT
Thursday. Seven helicopters, two airplanes and four boats are en
route to the site, about 80 miles south of Vermilion Bay along the
central Louisiana coast.
Ranel says it hasn't been determined whether the structure is a
production platform or a drilling rig or whether workers were
aboard. Ranel says smoke was reported but it is unclear whether the
rig is still burning.

--------------------------------

Mariner Energy, Inc. confirms that a fire has occurred at a production platform located on Vermilion Block 380, approximately 100 miles from the Louisiana coast. All 13 members of the crew have been evacuated and safely accounted for. No injuries have been reported. In an initial flyover, no hydrocarbon spill was reported.

Mariner has notified and is working with regulatory authorities in response to this incident. The cause is not known, and an investigation will be undertaken. During the last week of August 2010, production from this facility averaged approximately 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas per day and 1,400 barrels of oil and condensate.

WCTV will keep you updated on the latest information as it comes in.