An oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico has suffered an explosion just five months after an explosion at BP's Deepwater Horizon rig led to a massive oil spill which cost the company billions of dollars and its CEO.

The rig, owned by Mariner Energy, is located off the coast of Louisiana and had 13 people working on it, all of whom escaped, although one is believed to be injured.

No oil or gas was in production at the time of the explosion, it is reported.

The explosion at the Deepwater Horizon rig led to BP making a record second quarter loss of $17 billion, thanks to the cost of cleaning up the leaked oil and paying compensation to those who had lost their livelihoods. In addition BP's British CEO Tony Hayward said he would step down in October. He is to be replaced by the American Robert Dudley.