The Natural Gas and Oil Industry's Commitment to Sustainability

For the natural gas and oil industry, the drive for more sustainable operations means developing new standards, innovative technologies and partnerships to accelerate safe, cleaner, affordable energy solutions for today and tomorrow.

America’s natural gas and oil companies are mindful of the responsibilities associated with delivering the energy that’s fundamental to the lives we want to live – while doing it in ways that protect the environment, lower emissions and reduce the risks of climate change.

Companies are committed to continuous improvement and innovation to advance sustainability – specifically, on environmental, social and corporate governance issues (ESG). This means focusing operations and community engagements in ways that can support progress toward achieving the UN 17 Sustainability Development Goals, including affordable and clean energy; jobs and economic growth; innovation and infrastructure; and climate action.

We’re doing this by continuously striving to make our operations and products cleaner as we produce the energy needed by a modern economy – energy that supports better lives and livelihoods, with broad economic and social opportunity.

As the only U.S. trade association representing all aspects of the natural gas and oil value chain, API has a long history of supporting member operations in these areas. These include, our new API Energy Excellence program, certifications and safety training programs, and industry-led initiatives to reduce methane emissions and natural gas flaring. API helps the industry enhance and expand a culture of safety and sustainability throughout all operations.

API members are actively working together to track and improve their sustainability performance while striving for increased transparency with stakeholders. API remains committed to building tools and platforms to support these efforts, as well as helping members engage with stakeholders to meet expectations for the many opportunities and challenges that lie ahead.

Approach

API helps companies responsibly meet the world’s energy needs and report consistently on sustainability performance. API and its partners at IPIECA and IOGP created the “Sustainability Reporting Guidance for the Oil and Gas Industry,” now in its fourth edition, to aid companies in their sustainability reporting. These voluntary guidelines identify the most relevant sustainability issues to our industry and provide guidance for reporting on those issues. They provide a robust framework to help companies with their sustainability reporting, particularly for companies that are just starting to report.

The API-IOGP-IPIECA guidance covers issue areas the natural gas and oil industry has managed for decades. These are specifically correlated by five modules to the ESG categories:

• Environment
  • Climate Change and Energy
  • Environment
• Social
  • Social
  • Safety, Health and Security
• Governance
  • Governance

IPIECA, in collaboration with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, has also generated a SDG Roadmap in order to advance environmental and social performance for companies the oil and gas sector.

For more detailed resources, visit the Environmental, Social and Governance pages in this section.