TIMELINE-Major offshore accidents in the global oil industry

May 13 (Reuters) - An offshore gas drilling platform sank
off the coast of Venezuela on Thursday, less than a month after
a rig sank off the coast of Louisiana and left thousands of
barrels of crude oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.

The accidents, particularly the Horizon spill, may lead to
more scrutiny over offshore and deepwater oil drilling, which
many energy analysts consider crucial to the world's future
supply of crude oil and natural gas.

Following is a timeline of selected major offshore platform
and drilling accidents in the global oil and gas industry.

1969 -- A blowout at Platform A offshore near Santa
Barbara, California led to a spill estimated at up to 100,000
barrels of crude oil, fouling the California coastline. The
spill led to broad opposition to offshore drilling near
California, and later helped spur the creation of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.

1979 -- The Pemex-operated Ixtoc I offshore well in the
Campeche Bay of Mexico suffered a blow out, eventually spewing
up to 3 million barrels of crude oil in the worst offshore
spill in North American history.

1980 -- Alexander Kielland, a floating platform for
off-duty workers, capsized in the North Sea, killing 123
people.

1982 -- The Ocean Ranger semi-submersible drilling rig sank
off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, while operating the
Hibernia oil field. The accident, which occurred during a huge
storm, killed 84 crew members.

1984 -- A blowout on the Enchova platform operated by
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras in the Campos Basin
caused an explosion and a fire that led to the death of dozens
of workers.

1988 -- The Piper Alpha platform exploded and sank while
drilling in the North Sea in a field operated by Occidental
Petroleum, killing 167 workers.

1989 -- U.S. drilling ship Seacrest capsized during a
typhoon in the Gulf of Thailand, killing more than 90 people.

1995 -- Thirteen people were killed and many injured in an
explosion on a Mobil oil rig off coast of Nigeria.

2001 -- The P-36 offshore production platform operated by
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA)(PBR.N) was
rocked by explosions killed 11 people. It sank off the coast of
Rio de Janeiro five days later, spilling some of the 10,000
barrels of fuel and crude it was storing into the Atlantic.

2005 -- A fire destroyed the Mumbai High North processing
platform off India's west coast, affecting 123,000 bpd of crude
production, or 15 percent of the country's domestic output, and
killing 12 people. The platform was owned by ONGC.

2007 -- During stormy weather, the Usumacinta rig collided
with the Kab-101 platform off the coast of Mexico, causing fuel
leaks and killing 21 workers who tried to flee in life rafts in
one of state oil firm Pemex's worst accidents.

2009 -- The West Atlas mobile drilling rig leaked oil and
gas into the East Timor Sea from the Montara oil field near
Australia, and later sank after a fire. The spill continued for
months before relief wells were drilled to plug the leak,
depositing millions of gallons of crude into an ecologically
sensitive marine ecosystem.

April 20, 2010 -- Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd's
(RIG.N) RIGN.S drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP
kills 11 workers. The undersea well has been gushing roughly
5,000 barrels (210,000 gallons/795,000 liters) per day. The oil
spill could become the worst in U.S. history and threatens an
environmental catastrophe along the U.S. Gulf Coast.
[ID:nSPILL]

May 13, 2010 -- A Venezuelan natural gas exploration rig
sank in the Caribbean sea early on Thursday. All 95 workers on
the rig were rescued and there was no gas leak, the government
said. [ID:nN13256518]

(Complied by Alonso Soto, Brian Ellsworth and Joshua
Schneyer; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)