I know that you are shocked, shocked to learn the owner of the offshore oil and gas platform that exploded yesterday in the Gulf of Mexico had two violations just this year from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Outer Continental Shelf Civil and Criminal Penalties Program.

This not terribly surprising story is brought to you by Think Progress:

The Vermilion Oil Rig 360, owned by Mariner Energy — which was recently purchased by Apache Corp. — was producing about 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day.

Reader support helps sustain our work. Donate today to keep our climate news free. All donations DOUBLED!

As ThinkProgress noted, just Wednesday Mariner Energy said the Obama administration’s moratorium on offshore drilling is “trying to break us.” Mariner Energy also made a recent filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying its operations “may be impacted in the future by increased regulatory oversight, which may increase the cost of” Outer Continental Shelf wells, “and delay drilling and production therefrom.”

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

But if Thursday’s explosion wasn’t enough evidence, government safety records indicate that Mariner Energy and Apache Corp. are desperately in need of regulation. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Outer Continental Shelf Civil and Criminal Penalties Program cited Mariner Energy for two violations just in the first six months of this year, and once more in 2007.

A summary of the fines assessed against Mariner Energy:

  • Two violations in 2010, totaling $55,000.
  • One violation in 2007, for $30,000.

Apache Energy has been cited for 22 violations since 1998, totaling over $1.74 million in fines, including a $435,000 fine this year for removing a key piece of equipment from a sump system, which then “could not automatically maintain oil at a level sufficient to prevent discharge into the Gulf of Mexico.”

A summary of the fines assessed against Apache Corp.:

Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

  • Two violations in 2010, totaling $690,000.
  • Two violations in 2008, totaling $135,000.
  • Three violations in 2007, totaling $486,000.
  • Five violations in 2006, totaling $216,000.
  • Three violations in 2005, totaling $122,000.
  • One violation in 2004, for $5,000.
  • One violation in 2002, for $13,000.
  • Four violations in 2001, totaling $70,000.
  • One violation in 1999, for $6,000.

Mariner Energy is probably right that the company will be “impacted” by “increased regulatory oversight.” But its workers, and the Gulf ecosystem, might avoid being impacted as they were today.