Leveraging API standards and programs, API Energy Excellence is designed to provide a comprehensive roadmap to enhance operations through sharing best practices, adhering to standards, deploying new technologies and transparent reporting. The program builds on API’s century-long track record of setting world-class standards by unifying the industry and driving performance to safeguard employees, communities and the environment.
“API Energy Excellence embodies the industry’s core value of accelerating safety and environmental progress. API member companies work to innovate and solve the greatest energy challenges by deploying cutting-edge technologies that improve energy delivery, enhance operational integrity, and reduce emissions to address both current and future challenges,” said API Senior Vice President of Global Industry Services Anchal Liddar.
All API members participate in API Energy Excellence to advance a set of principles, demonstrating the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement through the implementation of 13 core elements.
13 Core Elements
The 13 core elements serve as a unifying cross-industry management system approach for driving operational improvement. These performance management elements range from leadership and community engagement to risk management, helping to enhance safety culture across operations. All elements are supported and operationalized through industry standards, certification programs and management system programs.
Under API Energy Excellence, member companies apply the 13 core elements to their operations, drawing from segment-specific safety and environmental standards and practices that are best suited to their operations. This includes the establishment of an internal system to comprehensively address operational risks, maintain safe work practices, provide the requisite knowledge and training for workers, engage stakeholders and continuously learn and improve over time.
The 13 core elements help companies operate safely and efficiently with a focus on prevention so that environmental risks are proactively identified, managed and mitigated. API Energy Excellence provides an effective system of standards, recommended practices and industry programs that assist companies in applying best-in-class approaches that protect the environment and lead to more sustainable operations.
Through API Energy Excellence, API members establish, document and execute processes, procedures and practices to maintain control of work and mitigate potential risks to people, the environment and property. While API member companies have been using API standards and programs for decades, API Energy Excellence codifies the industry’s practices in advancing safety, health and environmental progress.
Commitment to Transparency Through Reporting
API members demonstrate their commitment to continuous performance improvement and operational excellence through annual reporting. Implementation progress toward the 13 core elements will be tracked through an annual progress reporting process covering U.S. assets and policies at the corporate level, with a goal of conformance across the API membership by 2025.
Since API Energy Excellence launched last year, API member companies have already begun reporting on their progress, helping to set baseline metrics to measure further advances in conformance with the program in the years to come.
API will utilize the results of the initial Progress Reporting Cycle to point members to existing programs they may not be aware of such as the Center for Offshore Safety (COS), Process Safety Site Assessment Program (PSSAP®) and others. API will also utilize the results to develop additional industry tools, guidance, good practices and standards in necessary areas.
“Initial reporting on API Energy Excellence progress shows the industry is engaged with meeting the 13 core elements as part of a commitment to continuous improvement and operational excellence,” said API Vice President for Standards and Segment Services Alexa Burr.
Advancing Sustainability and Environmental Protection
API members and the industry are committed to further reducing emissions across all facets of the industry — from drilling and extraction, to transport and refining processes. API Energy Excellence leverages API’s portfolio of more than 800 standards, nearly 100 of which focus specifically on addressing environmental performance, including the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition to setting industry standards that help reduce emissions, API administers segment-specific programs based on standards to further improve safety and environmental performance of operations. Existing API segment initiatives, programs and standards include many of the core components of API Energy Excellence and can be leveraged, if implemented, to demonstrate significant conformance to the 13 elements. Participation in relevant programs such as COS, Pipeline Safety Management System (SMS) Assessment Program, and PSSAP® help identify opportunities to enhance safety and environmental progress.
API Energy Excellence represents a significant industry-led action as it meets the dual challenge of ensuring energy security and advancing environmental progress — today, tomorrow and in the future. With a common blueprint for improving performance, API Energy Excellence provides a framework for energy companies to implement industry standards, training programs and progress reporting that will increase industry-wide transparency and deliver results for all stakeholders.
For more information on API Energy Excellence, please visit API.org.