Editors note: The following letter to the editor from API President and CEO, Jack Gerard appeared in the New York Times on January 31, 2011.

The good news is that "business as usual" for the United States oil and natural gas industry means that we are building on nearly a century of commitment to safe and reliable operations. In the nine months since the tragic accident in the Gulf of Mexico, we've been at work carrying out many of the recommendations now finding their way into reports.

We have produced new guidance on well cementing, begun a new standard on deepwater well construction, held workshops on carrying out a comprehensive safety management system, nearly completed work on state-of-the-art well containment systems, and initiated business planning for a new, independently audited... more »

API executive vice president Marty Durbin had a good op/ed in the Houston Chronicle over the weekend. After looking at the oil industry's significant safety enhances since the tragic Macondo well accident last spring, Durbin looks forward:

"...The moratorium on deep-water drilling technically ended last October. Yet not a single deep-water drilling permit has been issued since. Some deep-water rigs are leaving the Gulf. We've been told by the Interior Department that permitting may never get back to the levels before the accident. We've also learned that 2011 may see no new offshore leasing, and the department is scaling back its next five-year offshore leasing plan.

Thousands of jobs have disappeared already. Revenue and energy production will be increasingly affected. The Energy Depar... more »

The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released its findings last week and one portion is getting a large amount of attention:

"The United States has the highest reported rate of fatalities in offshore oil and gas drilling among its international peers, but it has the lowest reporting of injuries. This striking contrast suggests a significant underreporting of injuries in the US and highlights the need for better data collection to ensure needed attention to worker safety."

While every fatality is a tragedy, the Commission is incorrect here in their use of statistics, as our Fact Sheet explains:

"Historically, the U.S. government has attempted to estimate Occupational Injuries, Illnesses, and Fatalities using survey sampling and estimation me... more »

Oil prices on the global marketplace rose by $1.86 cents a barrel, or more than 2 percent, yesterday after the presidential oil spill commission recommended more government action to improve safety in the Gulf of Mexico. According to published reports, the commission's conclusions raised fears that the government might slow oil production from its already depressed levels.

Other factors also could have had an impact on the price yesterday. Foul weather along the East Coast, the closure of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, and the government's latest crude oil demand and price predictions could have added to the upward pressure on the price, which closed at $91.11 yesterday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

By and large, the fundamentals of supply and demand are the most important influences i... more »

No oil is flowing through the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline for the fourth day today as workers construct a bypass around a leaking pipe at Pump Station 1. The leak was discovered in a secondary line which is encased in concrete below the pumping station on Saturday. Oil was discovered flowing into the basement where the line passes through a wall. Siphoning trucks have recovered about 18 barrels of oil from the basement as oil remaining in the line continues to leak.

The Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, which operates the 800-mile pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska, has had welders working around the clock to circumvent the leaky pipe and restore the flow of oil. According to the Anchorage Daily News, this is the third longest closure in the pipeline's 33-year history. In recent months... more »