Times-Picayune /Landov Crew boats pump water Thursday onto the oil-and-gas production platform Vermilion 380-A, after an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico off the Louisiana coast, 93 nautical miles south of Vermilion Bay. 
 
 HOUMA, La.—The fire that engulfed an oil and gas platform Thursday in the Gulf of Mexico heightened pressure on the energy industry, which is battling greater regulation and a deep-water drilling ban. 
 
 The accident on Mariner Energy Inc.'s shallow-water platform sent 13 workers tumbling into the ocean, but there were no casualties and little or no oil appears to have been spilled. 
 
 But the towering column of smoke in the Gulf, 245 miles from where the Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, provoked an outcry from environmental groups and politicians in Washington already skeptical of offshore drilling. 
 
 And it complicated the energy industry's effort to portray BP PLC's massive Deepwater Horizon oil spill as a fluke that shouldn't have provoked a drilling moratorium, some energy experts said. 
 
 Kevin Book, managing director of research at ClearView Energy Partners LLC, a consulting firm with many energy clients, said that another accident in the Gulf, albeit minor compared with the April blowout, could prompt the Democratic Congress to push for greater changes. 
 
 Certain lawmakers' perceptions "that oil and gas production is safe is not affirmed by this disaster," he said. "And worse, the idea that regulation is adequate is definitely not affirmed." 
 
 The platform in Thursday's incident wasn't covered by the moratorium, because it didn't involve drilling and wasn't in deep water. 
 
 But the accident comes as the oil industry is trying to persuade the Obama administration to relax its drilling moratorium, on the grounds that offshore companies have taken sufficient steps to prevent another accident like the one aboard the Deepwater Horizon. That accident killed 11 workers and unleashed the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. 
 
 The administration has said it could lift or scale back the moratorium prior to its scheduled expiration on Nov. 30 if it determines that certain categories of rigs "present fewer risks than others." 
 
 The industry remains hopeful that will happen. "It's dispiriting, but it shouldn't be an impediment to progress," Lee Hunt, president of the International Association of Drilling Contractors, said of Thursday's accident. Mr. Hunt noted that the Mariner facility was a production platform, not a drilling rig, and was pumping mostly natural gas. 
 
 "What you have is an industrial-style accident that could have happened onshore," he added. 
 
 Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who has been leading the fight against the drilling ban, said the incident shouldn't be used as political ammunition in support of a federal moratorium on offshore drilling. Speaking at the hospital here where the platform's crew were being examined, he said, "Energy exploration can and should be done safely." 
 
 Mr. Jindal said he welcomed increased federal safety oversight of drilling, but not a ban on drilling. "It's important for the federal government to do their job, so thousands of Louisianans don't lose their jobs." 
 
 The American Petroleum Institute, an industry trade group that has mounted an aggressive push to overturn the drilling moratorium, said it was too soon to comment on the impact of the accident. "We don't know at this point what impact this will have," said spokesman Bill Bush. 
 
 But critics of offshore drilling said the fire showed the danger of offshore drilling, in both deep and shallow water. 
 
 "The half-measures and happy talk need to end," said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva, an Arizona Democrat. The latest accident, he said, "is the starkest possible reminder that oil rigs in this country are not safe, have not been safe for years and are not currently being inspected for safety." 
 
 Senior Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has been investigating the Deepwater Horizon disaster, fired off a letter to Mariner requesting a briefing on the incident by Sept. 10. 
 
 View Slideshow AFP/Getty Images Thirteen workers waited for rescue after they jumped into the sea. 
 
 The cause of the fire, which began a little after 9 a.m. CDT, and was extinguished by midafternoon, remained under investigation Thursday. One worker on the platform, who wasn't on board when the fire broke out, said a paint crew had joined the usual four-man crew on Wednesday. 
 
 None of the 13 workers aboard was seriously injured, Gov. Jindal said, though only 12 were able to grab life vests; they held their colleague afloat in the Gulf until rescuers arrived. 
 
 Edwin Stanton, commander of the Coast Guard's operations in New Orleans, said six commercial offshore supply boats were on the scene, continuing to spray cooling water onto the platform. He said the sheen of oil seen around the rig probably amounted to about 10 gallons. 
 
 An oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico explodes sending 13 people on board into the water below. Video courtesy of Fox News. 
 
 Fires aren't uncommon offshore, especially at older platforms like Mariner's, said Ray Kizer, an analyst at energy consultancy IHS. Mariner took over the platform, known as Vermilion 380-A, several years ago, but it has been operating for three decades. 
 
 The platform has a history of maintenance and repair issues, according to federal records. Government inspectors found an unusually high number of serious problems aboard the platform in both 2004 and 2005, and the facility was later damaged by Hurricane Ike. 
 
 Mariner is the sole owner of the platform, which it said recently produced an average of 9.2 million cubic feet of natural gas a day, equivalent to 1,533 barrels of oil, and about 1,400 barrels a day of oil and other liquids. 
 
 Apache Corp. said in April it would buy Mariner for $2.7 billion, acquiring a foothold in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which in recent years has become a major growth area for big oil companies. 
 
 The Deepwater Horizon incident, which is costing U.K. oil giant BP billions of dollars, also has cast doubt on whether smaller oil companies would be able to handle the high costs of responding to offshore accidents. 
 
 Bruce Bullock, director of Maguire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University, noted that a majority of the public didn't appear to support the moratorium. "But that didn't stop the administration from imposing it," he said, "so I don't think this is going to do anything to help convince the administration to lift it." 
 
 —Russell Gold and Jennifer S. Forsyth contributed to this article. 
 
 Write to Leslie Eaton at leslie.eaton@wsj.com, Russell Gold at russell.gold@wsj.com and Stephen Power at stephen.power@wsj.com ||||| Mariner Energy has been involved in at least a dozen offshore accidents or pollution spills in Gulf waters that were investigated by federal regulators. Possible violations were reported in at least six, and the company was fined three times. The incidents included one minor blowout and four fires. 
 
 Here are summaries based on reports from the Minerals Management Service, now the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement: 
 
 May 25, 2006: A leaking storage tank prompted a pollution violation at a platform damaged by Hurricane Katrina at a site 10 miles from shore in 35 feet of water. Inspectors found the bottom of a tank was corroded, and a damaged safety system and tank sump pump were unable to contain the overflow. A violation was recorded by New Orleans-based inspectors. 
 
 May 29, 2006: An employee was injured when he fell about 11 feet to a lower deck while working on a production platform. Inspectors based in Lafayette, La., found a possible violation: The injured man was not wearing required fall protection equipment. Mariner later paid a related $30,000 civil penalty. 
 
 October 28, 2006: A welding accident resulted in a fire on a production platform in 45 feet of water and 26 miles offshore. Two possible violations were identified by Lake Jackson, Texas-based inspectors. 
 
 June 23, 2007: A flash fire and explosion was reported on a production platform being decommissioned 74 miles offshore in 198 feet of water. A tank exploded, and a worker was burned. Operator Mariner Energy failed to comply with its own welding and burning safety procedures plan, reports show. 
 
 March 1, 2008: A derrick barge under tow struck a Mariner Energy's Eugene Island well, resulting in minor damage estimated at about $2,000. Mariner Energy personnel discovered the accident. No violations. 
 
 May 6, 2008: Workers were required to evacuate when a blowout was reported on a Pride Offshore drilling rig in 287 feet of water and about 90 miles from shore. The blowout apparently occurred when the driller hit a previously unknown shallow gas zone. No violations. 
 
 May 26, 2008: A crew member suffered an eye injury after a drilling accident involving a Pride Offshore rig. The hook and hoist chain became stuck under the rig floor and after dislodging, the chain struck one of the crew members. Lake Charles, Texas-based inspectors found possible violations based on "unsafe workmanlike operations" that led to the injury. 
 
 June 2, 2008: A fire occurred on a production platform in 62 feet of water and 21 miles offshore during a cleaning operation. During a shutdown, liquid hydrocarbons migrated into a fuel gas scrubber, triggering the fire and causing $40,435 in damage. No violations. 
 
 December 3, 2008: A pollution incident reported at a Rowan drilling rig was apparently caused by a leaking valve. No violations. 
 
 February 27, 2009: A contract employee fell through a hole in loose grating while performing minor repairs caused by Hurricane Ike at Mariner's High Island platform. No violations were found by Lake Jackson Texas-based inspectors. 
 
 June 15, 2009: One worker was hurt in an explosion on a production platform in 75 feet of water and about 45 miles offshore. His legs and back were burned when a methanol tank exploded during welding. Lafayette, La.-based inspectors cited four possible safety violations. 
 
 June 22, 2009: An injury accident occurred when a crane was decommissioned during plug-and-abandon operations at a South Marsh production platform in 223 feet of water and 89 miles from shore. Inspectors found that workers failed to follow and adhere to safe practices while disassembling a portable crane. 
 
 lise.olsen@chron.com
– The latest fire on an oil and gas platform in the Gulf of Mexico yesterday may not have spilled more oil into the Gulf, but it has further polluted the industry's image. The accident is going to make it harder for the industry to argue that the Deepwater Horizon disaster was a fluke as it fights tighter regulation and a moratorium on deep-water drilling, energy experts tell the Wall Street Journal. The platform engulfed by fire yesterday was in shallow water and it wasn't drilling when the accident occurred, but analysts say the fire adds to perceptions among some lawmakers that the industry is unsafe and under-regulated. The platform has a history of maintenance and repair issues and its owner, Mariner Energy, has been involved in at least a dozen offshore accidents since 2006, including four fires and a minor blowout, the Houston Chronicle reports.