2016 API Workshop on Commitment to Excellence in Hydraulic Fracturing

API is the worldwide leading standards setting body for the oil and natural gas industry. Accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), API has issued nearly 700 consensus standards governing all segments of the oil and gas industry. These include standards, guidelines, and recommended practices regarding safety, equipment, operations, effective water management, spill prevention and environmental protection. Many API standards and practices are incorporated into both federal and state oil and natural gas regulations and they are the most widely cited petroleum industry standards by international regulators.

In our on-going effort toward continued improvement of oil and natural gas operations, in May of 2011, API completed a series of industry guidance documents, of which portions were pertinent to hydraulic fracturing. This led to a two-day workshop titled Commitment to Excellence in Hydraulic Fracturing in Pittsburgh, PA in October of 2011 to formally discuss the content of the HF series documents. The initial meeting was followed 14 additional workshops across the country from January – May 2012 educating the industry, the public, the media, and federal and state legislators and regulators about the API’s standard setting process and the HF series.

In 2013, the HF series was revised through API’s accredited standards development process, resulting in three new API Recommended Practices:

API RP 100-1 -- Well Integrity and Fracture Containment
API RP 100-2 -- Managing Environmental Aspects Associated with Exploration and Production Operations Including Hydraulic Fracturing
API Bulletin 100-3 -- Community Engagement Guidelines

A similar series of outreach workshops is planned for 2017 that is intended to educate industry and policy makers about the industry’s commitment to responsible development. A video-taped kick-off session was held on October 26, 2016, allowing outside audiences to learn more about the revised standards through SlidesLive.