HOUSTON (Reuters) - An oil field service rig working on an inactive gas well caught fire in Louisiana on Wednesday, injuring as many as three workers, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The fire went out on its own after burning a short while. There was no pollution, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.
The accident occurred about 20 miles south-southeast of New Orleans in Bayou Perot as the rig was converting an inactive gas well for injection disposal of waste saltwater.
The incident was in inland waters - not the Gulf of Mexico - north of Barataria Bay, the Coast Guard said.
Rig safety has been under scrutiny since the April 20 blowout of BP Plc's Macondo well in Gulf waters off Louisiana. Eleven workers died, and the blowout triggered the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.
(Reporting by Bruce Nichols; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
