The North Sea may provide a safer environment for rig workers than the Gulf of Mexico, according to Mark Tranfield, a consultant with Offshore Commissioning Solutions.

Speaking to the Houston Chronicle, he explained that many European countries enforced strict laws and regulation overseeing the provision of oil and gas training for offshore workers in the wake of the Piper Alpha disaster in 1988, when 167 rig workers lost their lives.

Mr Tranfield's comments came as authorities in the Gulf of Mexico search for explanations for the blast at the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20th.

He insisted that it is time strict training regulations were brought into force in the US.

"You have all these regulations in the rest of the world, and in the United States, there's nothing," he told the paper.

Eleven of the 126 workers aboard the Deepwater Horizon were reported missing following the blast. The rig continues to spill an approximate 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the surrounding waters.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development