Last night, President Obama spoke eloquently about the challenges facing our country from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Our thoughts and prayers, as an industry and as a nation, have been with our workers and their neighbors along the coast. But our focus has been to help BP and the government in their efforts to stop the spill, to clean up the oil, and--once the causes of the spill are known--prevent it from ever happening again.

We will redouble our commitment to safety and environmental protection. Where improvements can be made; we'll make them. The oil and natural gas industry has been raising the bar on best practices for the past 90 years, and we will continue to find ways to raise that bar higher.

We understand that people are frustrated and expect answers. We will be part o... more »

While oil company officials were being questioned by Congress today, a bolt of lightning started a small fire on the Discoverer Enterprise, the drillship that is collecting oil and flaring gas from the leaking Macondo well.

BP reports the fire occurred at the top of the ship's derrick and was extinguished quickly. There were no injuries, but the lower marine riser package (LMRP) containment operation was shut down temporarily. Collection of oil and gas was expected to resume today.

The responders' Joint Information Center has released an interactive map, allowing users to track the response efforts real-time. The map shows the locations of response centers, claims offices and fishing bans, in addition to providing information about beach conditions.

BP is moving forward with its plans to... more »