Heat goes on operator over blazing oil rig

Thick smoke billows into the air from a fire on the West Atlas rig that workers are still battling to control. Photo / AP

SYDNEY - A massive fire erupted on an oil rig that has been leaking into the Timor Sea and Australia's Government yesterday promised an investigation, the latest drama in a 10-week battle to plug the hole.

Rig operator PTTEP Australasia said no one was injured and nonessential workers were evacuated after the fire broke out on the West Atlas rig and Montara wellhead platform on Sunday.

The blaze started when workers began pumping heavy mud into a leaking well casing. An estimated 400 barrels of oil a day have escaped from the hole since August 21.

Officials planned to pour more mud into the leak hoping to remove the source of fuel from the fire, which was sending plumes of smoke into the sky.

PTTEP Australasia chief financial officer Jose Martins said the company didn't know how the blaze started.

"[At present] there are many unanswered questions, including what caused the fire," Martins said. "Our sole focus now is the safety of all personnel, bringing the fire under control and completing the well kill."

Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson said that once the spill was contained he would launch an official inquiry.

"Our requirement is to assess the cause of the accident and any lessons to be learned, and that could lead to a change in the regulatory environment," he told ABC radio.

The company will be disciplined if found to have breached any industry practices.

The oil slick from the rig, about 250km off Australia's northwest coast, now stretches across thousands of kilometres of remote ocean. Indonesia said last week that thousands of dead fish and clumps of oil had been found drifting near its coastline.

- AP, AAP