The official explanation was bad weather from hurricane Dolly, which might have interfered with a planned helicopter trip to an offshore oil platform.

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In 1988, the world's worst offshore accident occurred when the Piper Alpha oil platform exploded in the British sector of the North Sea, killing 167 people.

CNN: Monday,

Engineers there have been stripping CO2 from oil and gas pumped by an offshore platform in the Nordic Sea, and pumping it back down.

NPR: Scientists Hunt for Solution to CO2 Problem

The spilled oil wasn't from an offshore platform, but it might not have been a great visual backdrop for a candidate who's trying to promote more offshore drilling.

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