From the BBC:
A gas platform has sunk in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, but the energy minister says it poses no risk to the environment.
President Hugo Chavez announced the incident via his account on the social networking site Twitter.
He said all 95 workers were evacuated from the Aban Pearl platform before it sank in the early hours of Thursday.
The rig was at the centre of Venezuela’s efforts to develop its huge offshore gas deposits.
Venezuela’s energy and oil minister, Rafael Ramirez, said there had been a problem with the flotation system of the semi-submergible platform, causing it to keel over and sink.
But he said a tube connecting the rig to the gas field had been disconnected and safety valves activated, so there no risk of any gas leak.
Perhaps the South American strongman’s glad-handing buddy, Barack Obama, will emulate this strategy. . . . The next time the Obama administration is forced to admit bad news (late on a Friday afternoon, no doubt) it might very well be limited to 140 characters.