As we mark the one-year anniversary of the Macondo oil well spill in the Gulf of Mexico, it is important that we remember the 11 workers who died in that accident, their families and the communities along the Gulf coast that were most affected by this incident. They remind us that, in our efforts to continuously improve safety in our operations, there can be no let-up. And just as we should not lose sight of what happened that day, we should not minimize our industry's unprecedented response to the accident. And we should remain mindful of our industry's strong safety record, as exemplified by the fact that, before the spill, more than 42,000 offshore wells were drilled safely in the Gulf of Mexico over a span of 60 years.

Our commitment to safety has been the guiding force of our operatio... more »

The presidential commission investigating the Deepwater Horizon accident wrapped up the second day of its two-day hearing in Washington yesterday. At the same time, a federal judge in New Orleans was holding a hearing on the administration's deepwater drilling moratorium. Here's a compilation of the latest news as reported by several publications:

• While it's known that the Deepwater Horizon explosion was caused by a surge of gas that rose through the wellbore, the causes remain under investigation and the commission has not yet assessed blame. The lead investigator indicated that the individuals drilling the well "missed signals" but did not base consciously base their decisions on saving money rather than safety.
• Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans held a closed-door conferen... more »

In this episode, I interview Tim Felt, CEO of Colonial Pipeline Company, on the safety and reliability of the U.S. pipeline network and his company's impressive safety record.

Today, Colonial celebrates 10 million hours of employees working without a lost work-time injury. This represents more than seven years of employees working safely as they deliver fuels to U.S. consumers.

During this period of time, these pipeline workers have weathered hurricanes, completed major construction projects and excavated thousands of pipeline segments to visually inspect the integrity of the steel pipe.

Use the audio player below to listen to the conversation and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find the podcast informative.

Show Notes:

00:17 Have you ever considered how gasoline and... more »

In this week's episode, I talk with Tim Sampson, manager for exploration and production at API, and Roland Goodman, manager of upstream standards at API, about how the oil and natural gas industry prepares for storms during hurricane season. Use the audio player below to listen, and follow along with the show notes. I hope you find it informative.

Feel free to leave a question in the comments section of this post.

Show Notes:

00:15 Jane discusses forecasts for this year's hurricane season and welcomes Tim Sampson and Roland Goodman - both of API - to EnergyTomorrow Radio.

01:10 There are about 3,800 production platforms in federal waters offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and about 20 off the coast of California. There are 74 drilling rigs operating offshore.

01:39 In the industry's h... more »