Rig evacuated as precaution in Gulf of Mexico???

[permison]

Saw this a few minutes ago. Anyone have an idea why this is happening?

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100426/us_nm/us_diamondoffshore_rig

 

Mon Apr 26, 6:33 pm ET

HOUSTON (Reuters) – An offshore drilling rig owned by Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc that had been working near a rig that caught fire and sank in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico last week has been evacuated as a precaution, a government official said on Monday.

 

The workers were taken off the rig, the Ocean Endeavor, out of an "abundance of caution," Lars Herbst, an official with the U.S. Minerals Management Service, told a news conference.

 

While Diamond Offshore's website said the rig was under contract to Devon Energy Corp for nearly $300,000 per day, a spokesman for Devon said the project had been turned over to Exxon Mobil Corp last year.

 

Devon has put its Gulf of Mexico assets up for sale.

 

The rig Deepwater Horizon, owned by Transocean Ltd, sank on Thursday, two days after it exploded and caught fire while finishing a well for BP Plc 42 miles off the Louisiana coast.

 

The companies and the U.S. government are in the process of trying to seal the leaking oil well.

 

(Reporting by Anna Driver in Houston; editing by Carol Bishopric and Ted Kerr)

[Eggbeater]

My only guess would be they are afraid of another blow out. That or the oil slick on the water is a problem, which doesn't seem likely. The article is pretty vague about it.

[Inferno]

I saw a show about rig salvage a while back. They said one of the major concerns with that type of work was some of the underwater wreckage drifting into nearby rigs or equipment... Other than that, or the oil slick, i have no idea...

[DieselBoy]

I read earlier that they are thinking about burning the oil slick.