Safety and Environmental Protection are at API’s Core
Debra Phillips
Posted January 28, 2020
A major part of API’s core mission is the development of industry standards that enhance safety and environmental protection at oil and natural gas facilities both in the U.S. and around the world.
API CEO Mike Sommers underscored this important point in releasing the State of American Energy 2020 report earlier this month, saying:
“Today, U.S. energy development is safer than it’s ever been, in part, thanks to API’s world-class standards. From foundational offshore safety to pipeline leak detection, API standards drive safety, environmental protection, and sustainability. Not only here in the United States, but across the world.”
API has published over 700 standards and best-in-class operational practices since it was founded 100 years ago. In 2019 alone, API introduced 90 safety standards, underscoring our commitment to a safer workplace for workers and their communities, and environmental protection.
API’s Global Industry Services division – which develops the standards – issued a number of significant standards in the last year, addressing everything from onshore and offshore production activities, to refinery and pipeline safety, and improved specifications for motor oil to improve fuel economy and engine performance in cars and trucks.
For example, the 4th edition of API Recommended Practice 75 (RP 75) was recently updated in December to reflect the industry’s commitment to maintaining the safest, most efficient, and sustainable offshore operations both domestically and around the world.
API also published a suite of standards to ensure safe operations at some of the largest offshore oil and natural gas production facilities in the world, including facilities designed to both produce and serve as an export terminal for liquefied natural gas (LNG). These Integrity Management standards cover the key components of operating an offshore production facility in order to keep its workers safe and avoid leaks and spills.
We also released the first-ever standards for safely operating hoses that carry water to and from hydraulic fracturing sites to ensure against spills and safety incidents at oil and natural gas drilling sites.
In addition, new standards were published to reduce the risk of a safety or environmentally hazardous incident at a refinery. The standard, API’s 10th edition of Recommended Practice 2001, specifically addresses fire protection.
We believe that any industry, especially one as successful and robust as the oil and natural gas industry, should hold itself up as an example of how to operate responsibly and sustainably. And, we believe this industry has done just that through its commitment to standards.
About The Author
Debra Phillips is senior vice president of API’s Global Industry Services division, which is responsible for standards setting, certification, training, events, publications and safety programs for industry operations. Before joining API, Debra served on the leadership team at the American Chemistry Council, where she was the catalyst behind the chemical industry’s sustainability strategy. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from Albright College and holds a master’s degree in environmental toxicology from Duke University.