Minor Fire Strikes Oil Collection Drillship

Gulf of Mexico: At approximately 9:30 am CDT, Oil collection was halted when a small fire was observed at the top of the derrick on the Discoverer Enterprise, the drillship collecting oil from the Deepwater Horizon blowout. The Joint Information Center reports that the fire was quickly extinguished. The preliminary review indicates the fire was caused by a lightning strike. There were no injuries. All procedures were followed and, as a precaution, the LMRP containment operation was shut-down. All safety systems operated as designed. Final safety and operational assurance inspections are underway and oil collection operations are expected to recommence this afternoon.