Here's another video from API's hydraulic fracturing workshop earlier this month. Anadarko Petroleum's Rebecca Thingelstad discusses HF-3, from the standards and industry guidelines developed by API and its members. HF-3 helps companies that are producing natural gas from shale to foster good relations with host communities.

Subjects addressed in the guideline include positive engagement of residents and local officials, protecting the air, reducing noise, preventing spills and managing water resources used in fracking. "HF-3 is kind of a cumulative look, it's a holistic approach at being good stewards and good neighbors," Thinglestad says. Take a look:

Our industry's longstanding commitment to safe operations was questioned by some after last year's tragic spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Today, we have more than 20 industry groups working concurrently on improving spill prevention and response. Oil companies are committing resources in the form of dollars, time and expertise to ensure that these improvements are implemented.

In March, we announced the creation of the Center for Offshore Safety. It will bring our best minds and expertise together to help operators strive for and maintain the highest levels of safety performance across the entire industry.

We have worked hard to meet the requirements for resuming operations in the Gulf. That's important because we need those energy resources, both today and in the future. Oil and natural gas... more »

Tomorrow, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to lay out the administration's energy strategy--including its stance on deepwater offshore drilling--in a speech at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Observers say it's likely that Sec. Salazar will announce a new interim final rule codifying many of the new offshore requirements aimed at increasing safety and improving environmental practices.

In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident in April, the administration ordered the immediate inspection of the 33 deepwater drilling rigs, all of which passed; it launched investigations into the cause of the Deepwater Horizon accident; it reorganized the former Minerals Management Service into three separate agencies to better define its roles in leasing offshore developm... more »

After several weeks of intense study into the Deepwater Horizon accident, two industry task forces released their recommendations today.

These task forces, which have focused on subsea well design and oil spill response, are two of the four task forces formed by the oil and natural gas industry to examine deepwater drilling, identify any gaps that might exist affecting safety, seek solutions, and improve industry operations. The two other task forces delivered their reports to the government in May.

Today the Subsea task force announced 29 recommendations, including 15 immediate action items, that could be helpful in controlling the release of oil from its source. Many of the action items involved equipment changes and a new Containment Company (CC) formed to build and deploy a rapid respo... more »

A fire on an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico created a media furor yesterday. Several of the initial news reports contained inaccuracies that tended to exacerbate America's heightened awareness of--and sensitivity to--offshore drilling. The reaction was predictable: Politicians demanded answers, and environmental groups called on the government to keep the drilling moratorium in effect.

As we've stated before on this blog, the oil and natural gas industry believes no accident is acceptable. Offshore workers are trained in the proper way to manage operations and are drilled in safety precautions. We're thankful that all 13 crew members on the platform are accounted for.

The Mariner Energy platform fire was an industrial accident that should not be compared to the Deepwater Horizon.... more »