Five years after the worst oil spill in history, the company that caused it has agreed to an historic $18+ billion settlement with the five Gulf States that were affected by the environmental disaster. The total also includes $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalties.

Potentially hazardous work conditions, job duties and health risk… it’s no secret that the oil and gas industry can be a dangerous place to work.

According to Chevron’s Craig May, society has challenged the oil and gas industry to show that it can meet the world’s growing energy needs in a safer and more environmentally sustainable way.

An open-flame heater on the floor of a rig likely sparked the fire that killed three natural gas drillers and seriously injured two others in a December 2014 drilling rig fire in Coalgate, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has concluded.

In the oil and gas industry, employees are often transported to geographically remote areas for temporary work instead relocate there permanently with their families.

Cleanup workers using 17 vessels are continuing efforts to remove 100,000 gallons of  crude oil spilled into the ocean and on the land 20 miles north of Santa Barbara, California, according to news sources. As of Thursday night, some 9,500 gallons of oily water had been skimmed from the ocean. Officials say the clean-up -- which is complicated by currents, tides and the wind -- could take months.