An Energy Department official heading a new committee charged with coordinating efforts among three federal agencies to research the risks and benefits of unconventional oil and gas production says he believes it can be done safely.

Christopher Smith, a 1986 graduate of Southwest High School and now deputy assistant secretary for oil and natural gas at the Energy Department, was in Fort Worth Thursday. He addressed a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and later toured the local manufacturing facility for FTS International, formerly Frac Tech, which makes equipment for hydraulic fracturing, the controversial technique used to produce oil and gas from shale.

In an interview, Smith said the interagency steering committee he heads held its first meeting on Wednesday May 10, 2012. The six-person group, consisting of two members each from the Energy Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey, was created by President Barack Obama to use "each agency's core competencies" to "scientifically quantify the concerns people have" about shale development and to make sure there are rules "to appropriately mitigate that risk."

It was Smith's second visit to Fort Worth in his official capacity. The first was about two years ago when he was with a Chinese delegation interested in learning more about hydraulic fracturing. The Barnett Shale, he said, is "ground zero" for investigating the effects of shale development because "they can see the benefits, but also the ways the city has worked with some of the environmental concerns," which include air emissions and potential groundwater contamination.

The prospect of an ample supply of relatively inexpensive natural gas is "an opportunity for consumers and an opportunity for businesses," Smith said.

"At the center of all our concerns is prudently and safely developing these resources," he said. "If you can put the scientific expertise of 10,000 scientists and engineers" available to the Energy Department to work on this, "you can demonstrate that you take those concerns seriously," he said.

While there are incidents that demand attention, he said, "this is a resource that can be developed safely."