Energy Tomorrow Blog
API's First Agreement With African Partner Extends Safety, Protection Programs to Continent
api standards program Environment and Safety oil and natural gas production
John D. Siciliano
Posted April 5, 2021
API took an important step to extending its safety and environmental protection programs to the continent of Africa, signing a new collaborative agreement with the business group African Energy Chamber (AEC), to expand use of API world-class standards, certifications and training programs.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the AEC – API’s first agreement with an African partner – is the latest in a series of similar agreements in the past year between API and organizations in nearly every region of the world. Such agreements arise from the global recognition API standards have earned for enhancing safety, efficiency and environmental protection across the natural gas and oil industry.
Expanding Educational Opportunity For a More Diverse Workforce
industry standards workforce jobs
Lem Smith
Posted March 4, 2021
The natural gas and oil industry is preparing for the future by investing in the next generation of engineers, scientists and problem solvers. We’re committed to attracting and retaining a diverse, inclusive and resilient workforce of men and women ready to tackle the world’s energy and climate challenges.
Expanding access to educational opportunities is essential in this endeavor.
To this end, the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association (LMOGA) are excited to announce two new additions to the industry’s Minority Serving Institution (MSI) initiative.API, Historically Black Colleges and Universities Partner on Access to Industry Standards
industry standards workforce jobs
Debra Phillips
Posted February 23, 2021
American Petroleum Institute (API) recently announced the first three participants in its new higher education initiative which makes all 700+ API standards accessible, free of charge, to students at accredited Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs).
Prairie View A&M University, Southern University and A&M College and Grambling University are the program’s first participants and as we mark Black History Month – celebrating diversity and the contributions of Black Americans – this news is especially timely.
API’s new program is a natural follow-on to last October’s Facebook conversation between Dr. Benjamin Chavis, National Newspaper Publishers Association president and CEO, and Mike Sommers, API President and CEO, in which they discussed career opportunities for African Americans in the natural gas and oil industry.
New API Energy Excellence Program Increases Industry Focus on Performance
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Debra Phillips
Posted February 9, 2021
Setting a high bar for industry safety and operational performance isn’t new for API. For nearly a century, API has led the way in developing standards that establish how natural gas and oil and the products made from them will be safely produced and delivered to consumers – including the operations themselves, from equipment and machinery to transportation and distribution systems.
That’s the foundation for launching the new API Energy Excellence initiative – which specifies what top performance means for safety and environmental protection, as well as security and safeguarding communities. Importantly, it also sets the expectation that every API member applies the program’s 13 core elements to accelerate safety and environmental progress in the natural gas and oil industry.
API Advances Safety and Environmental Performance through Global Collaboration
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Alexa Burr
Posted February 4, 2021
API’s new collaborative agreement with Azerbaijan’s national oil company is the latest in a series of partnerships to extend the safety and environmental benefits of our best-in-class industry standards globally.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with State Oil Company of Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) is the 10th MOU signed with an international institution in the past two years, extending the international network of government agencies and industry groups across Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Latin America.
The result is a wider international focus and alignment on modern standards and operational technologies designed to help the natural gas and oil industry operate safely and sustainably– for workers, communities and the environment.
EPA Advances Smart Regulation with Benefit-Cost and PM NAAQS Actions
national ambient air quality standards epa clean air act
Mark Green
Posted December 15, 2020
Let’s make a couple of points from last week’s EPA actions – one that will bring transparency to some of the agency’s rulemaking processes and another that leaves in place effective standards for microscopic soot.
Transparency first. The goal in EPA’s new benefit-cost rule is pretty straight-forward: Americans should be able to judge whether the benefits of future Clean Air Act regulation are justified by potential costs to society. The new rule will help by requiring that future regulation under the act must be written using sound analyses, where data to evaluate environmental, scientific and economic impacts be transparent and replicable.
Many of the natural gas and oil industry’s opponents reject bringing cost-accountability to the development of regulation. Many of them also subscribe to a more-is-better federal regulatory approach – which gets us to point No. 2.
API Standard Earns DHS Certification Under 9-11 Anti-Terrorism Act
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Mike Sommers
Posted November 24, 2020
The world changed on 9-11, mine and yours. ...
You’re probably like me. The vivid memories of that day make it hard to believe it happened two whole decades ago. We know now what we may have only sensed then – that 9-11 was an historic pivot point for the United States in terms of our economy, security and the way we approach life.
As president and CEO of the nation’s largest trade association representing the natural gas and oil industry, I’m reminded that 9-11 really helped galvanize our country’s focus on the security of our nation’s infrastructure to harden it against any future acts of terrorism, from our airlines to our supply chains to our energy grid. Natural gas and oil keep America running. After 9-11 we innovated and developed technologies to dramatically increase domestic production and become less dependent on foreign oil. We haven’t looked back; today, the U.S. is the world’s leading producer of the world’s more important energy sources.
9-11 is a big part of the reason that our industry’s approach to assessing risk shifted to a higher gear, to protect our facilities and networks against threats of terrorism – adding risk assessment to API’s body of work on standards that govern the way we operate.
API Continues to Lead on Safety During Pandemic
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John D. Siciliano
Posted August 27, 2020
Despite the pandemic, API has moved forward with dozens of new safety standards, covering everything from liquefied natural gas (LNG) to pipelines, to manufacturing specifications for offshore wells – ensuring that safety and scientific rigor, through API’s standards program, remain front and center.
We have used this challenging time to help ensure that the natural gas and oil industry is focused on safely and sustainably meeting both the domestic and global need for energy through API’s world-class standards program.
Make Safety the Foundation of Your Home Improvement Project
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Sam Winstel
Posted August 11, 2020
On National 811 Day, we’re reminding DIYers to dial before you dig!
After several months of coronavirus-imposed quarantine, Americans are mastering the art of stay-at-home. With all those extra hours of downtime, people confined to their houses and apartments are cooking, crafting, exercising and, apparently, remodeling.
This spring, sales surged for home improvement equipment and materials at retailers like Lowe’s and Home Depot, and recent polling from Bank of America shows that more than 70% of Americans have decided to tackle a DIY renovation project during the pandemic.
Opportunity to Grow Safety and Sustainability in the Nation's Shale Regions
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Debra Phillips
Posted June 30, 2020
Good technical standards and industry practices are important to safe, sustainable energy infrastructure that is critical to unleashing the benefits of domestic energy – including clean, affordable natural gas.
Major energy players have pointed to new midstream infrastructure investments in the massive Permian region that will allow them to produce more while also improving environmental performance. In addition, this infrastructure will benefit consumers globally through the export of U.S. natural gas – produced right here at home under stringent regulations, many of which point to API’s world-class safety standards that improve environmental performance and sustainability.