A plan to create a safety organisation for deep-water drilling is being drawn up by leading oil companies and could be launched within weeks, in an attempt to restore public confidence in the industry after last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico...The proposal that the industry should create an entity to set standards and police compliance in deep-water drilling was first put forward by oil executives last year, and was then picked up by the National Commission appointed by Mr Obama in its report earlier this month...Creating a separate body for safety could mean a radical change in the status of the API [American Petroleum Institute], which is responsible for technical standards that are used in the US and around the world. Shell and other companies playing a central role in the talks, including Chevron, the second-largest US oil group after ExxonMobil, have not taken a public position, but believe the institute could be made to work either outside or inside the API.