On Earth Day and Beyond, API Standards Advance Industry’s Commitment To Environmental Protection

Chase Winter
Posted April 21, 2022

The American Petroleum Institute and the broader natural gas and oil industry are committed to meeting the world’s growing energy needs while advancing environmental stewardship.

For Earth Day 2022, it is worth reflecting on one of many ways API and the industry enhance safety, sustainability and environmental protection, by developing world-class standards.

While all of API’s standards help the industry operate more efficiently and safely to reduce impacts on the environment, approximately 100 of API’s more than 700 standards focus directly on protecting the environment, whether on land, at sea, underground or in the air. In the past three years alone, API has published nearly 60 standards that directly contribute to reducing emissions, including flaring and leaks from extraction, manufacturing and transport, all of which help the industry reach its goal of a lower-carbon future.

For example, API developed Standard 537, Flare Details for Petroleum, Petrochemical, and Natural Gas Industries, which provides guidance and good engineering practices for the selection, design, operation and maintenance of flares across the natural gas and oil industry. The standard incorporates the newest technology for combustion equipment to improve design and operation of the flaring processes, helping to reduce flaring and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Standards like API 537 are critical to achieving the goals set out in API’s Climate Action Framework. Released last year, the Framework sets out policy proposals and industry initiatives to help build a lower-carbon future while meeting rising energy demand.

API President and CEO Mike Sommers:

“Confronting the challenge of climate change and building a lower-carbon future is a massive undertaking that will require a combination of government policies, industry initiatives and continuous innovation. Our industry views the challenge as the opportunity of our time, and one we are uniquely positioned to meet with our scale and expertise, aided by smart policies, innovation and world-class standards.”

In a major step, last year API released a new industry standard for the closure and remediation of so-called orphan natural gas and oil wells. API Recommended Practice (RP) 65-3, 1^st edition, Wellbore Plugging and Abandonment, will play a key role in the technical implementation of the Biden administration’s $4.7 billion initiative, allocated under the recently passed bipartisan infrastructure law, to address orphan natural gas and oil wells that pose potential hazards and risk the release of methane.

RP 65-3 provides guidance for the design, placement and verification of cement plugs used in decommissioned and temporarily closed wells, well remediation and verification of annular barriers. RP 65-3 builds upon the industry’s commitment to address the risks of climate change and further reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while enhancing industry efforts to protect aquifers and prevent contamination.

Tapping into industry expertise, API continuously updates standards to reflect changes in technology, in-field learning, policy and regulatory requirements.

To better help liquid pipeline operators mitigate the risk of incidents, RP 1175, Pipeline Leak Detection-Program Management, and RP 1130, Computational Pipeline Monitoring for Liquids, will publish their second editions in April.

RP 1175 provides guidance for pipeline operators to create effective leak detection programs (LDP), with the aim of identifying leaks quickly and with certainty, thus facilitating rapid shutdown and minimizing negative consequences in the event of an incident. For its part, RP 1130 addresses Computational Pipeline Monitoring (CPM) or algorithmic monitoring tools used to enhance the ability of a pipeline controller to recognize hydraulic anomalies that may be indicative of a liquid pipeline leak.

“Leak detection in liquid pipelines enables operators to quickly respond to incidents, mitigating harm to people, the environment and property,” said Anchal Liddar, the senior vice president of API’s Global Industry Services.

To help protect the world’s oceans, API administers the Center for Offshore Safety, which supports companies involved in offshore natural gas and oil operations to develop, implement and improve their Safety and Environmental Management Systems based on API RP 75.

Now in its 4^th edition, RP 75, Recommended Practice for a Safety and Environmental Management System for Offshore Operations and Assets, provides guidance for establishing, implementing, maintaining and continually improving a safety management system for offshore natural gas and oil operations.

In addition to administering the Center for Offshore Safety, other segment-specific programs further improve environmental performance of pipeline and downstream refining operations. The Pipeline Safety Management System (SMS) Assessment Program and Process Safety Site Assessment Program (PSSAP^®) help to identify opportunities for operators and facilities to enhance safety and reduce emissions, including emissions related to the risks of climate change.