NEW DELHI/BOMBAY, July 28: Twelve people died and 367 were rescued after fire destroyed an oil platform off India’s west coast, and officials said on Thursday it may take a year to rebuild the platform that produced a sixth of the country’s oil. Oil Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar said state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), India’s most valuable company, would be able to restore 70 per cent of the platform’s output of 110,000 barrels per day within a month.

The fire sparked concerns in the global oil market and analysts said Wednesday’s accident reminded the oil trade how vulnerable overstretched world supplies were to disruption.

ONGC officials said a new structure would be built by the end of next year.

ONGC’s Bombay High North platform was destroyed on Wednesday when a support vessel lost control in rough seas and collided with the structure.

Coast Guard officials said several helicopters and ships were scouring rough seas in bad weather for survivors.

“We have picked up people from the sea and there were people who were in the water for more than 12 hours,” Madanjit Singh, vice-admiral of the Western Naval Command, told reporters.

The sunken platform is about 160km southwest of India’s financial hub, Bombay, where heavy rains and severe flooding have already stretched emergency services.

ONGC Chairman Subir Raha said there had been some oil spill, but there was no damage to the environment as the coast guard had spread dispersants in the area to contain it.

ONGC officials said the platform was insured for $195 million but the new structure may cost about $300 million.

State-run refiners would also lose money buying additional crude from the spot market instead of ONGC’s oil, which was sold to domestic oil companies at a discount.

Aiyar told reporters in Bombay that India had enough foreign exchange reserves to buy additional crude.

“We will be able to make up for whatever loss of production by further imports,” he said. “Our energy security is (in) no way compromised.”

About 225 people were working on the platform when fire broke out at about 4:05pm on Wednesday and many others were aboard the support vessel and a nearby rig.

Rescue operations were hampered as ONGC’s helicopters in Bombay were grounded because of floods, and some survivors spent more than four hours in the water.

R.P. Sharma, who worked on the platform, said he heard a blast on the multi-support vessel Samudra Suraksha’s side.

“Suddenly we saw flames in the air, some of us jumped into the sea while some climbed into the life boats,” he said.

Bombay High, India’s largest offshore field, produces 14 per cent of the oil India consumes and accounts for 38 per cent of all domestic production.—Reuters