As development of America's shale gas deposits increases nationwide, it is natural for the people living and working near these operations to wonder whether the production of natural gas is being conducted properly and safely. Questions are expected – and welcomed – especially because production from shale deposits has brought oil and gas companies into communities where we have never operated before.

ConocoPhillips takes these questions very seriously. We proactively engage with community members to learn their expectations of us and incorporate what we learn into our business plans and actions. It is our responsibility to seek to understand and be understood by our stakeholders. We work to accomplish this by maintaining open communication through both formal and informal engagement processes and providing information about our business practices.

Engagement helps to build trust and mutual respect, and it helps us to implement high environmental standards so that our actions today will secure a stable and healthy environment for tomorrow.

We believe the key lies in operating responsibly while working continuously to improve our safety practices and environmental performance. We encourage government officials to adopt sound regulations that will further promote responsible development of natural gas resources wherever they exist across the country.