Thursday 13 November 2008

OIL & GAS UK AWARDS 2008 WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Oil & Gas UK last night announced the winners of the prestigious Oil & Gas UK Awards 2008, at a ceremony celebrating the outstanding talent that is found in the sector.

In the individual category, Caroline Gill, a geologist with Shell U.K. Limited, won the Oil & Gas UK Award for Overall Excellence; Kevin Sinclair, a multi-skilled instrument technician / operator with Wood Group Engineering (North Sea) Ltd, scooped the Oil & Gas UK Award for Young Technician of the Year; while Steve Bedford, a well services manager with BP, received the accolade of the Oil & Gas UK Award for Mentoring at a dinner in Aberdeen, attended by over 600 people.

In the new corporate category, Venture Production and Subsea 7 jointly won the Oil & Gas UK Joint Award for Supply Chain Business Innovation; Subsea 7 also scooped the Oil & Gas UK Award for Supply Chain Professional Development.

The Secretary of State for Scotland, the Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, presented each winner with a specially commissioned trophy designed by sculptor Elin Isaksson, and to winners in the individual category also a cheque for £500.

Speaking on behalf of the evenings main sponsor, Kurt Normann Nielsen, managing director of Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited, said: "The overall quality of the entries to these Awards, and notably of the winners, endorses the reputation of the UK oil and gas industry, and its ability to attract and reward the best people.

"It is important for the industry to celebrate technical excellence and encourage the new ideas and new ways of working that will drive forward progress and rise to the challenges of the future."

The Oil & Gas UK Awards recognise the wide range of achievements in the industry, both by individuals and companies. The Award for Overall Excellence recognises outstanding achievement by young people working in the UK offshore oil and gas industry today. The Award for Young Technician of the Year highlights the vital contribution of our industrys technicians while the Award for Mentoring underlines the important role members play in passing on their knowledge and expertise to the next generation of oil and gas workers.

Oil & Gas UKs two new supply chain awards also recognise the significance of the £17 billion world-class supply chain that has developed during four decades of production on the UK continental shelf. The Joint Award for Supply Chain Business Innovation highlights the creation and implementation of novel contracting strategies between an operator and contractor which have the potential for wider application across the industry while the Award for Supply Chain Professional Development puts the spotlight on the outstanding commitment made by an organisation to the professional development of its supply chain practitioners.

Oil & Gas UK chief executive, Malcolm Webb, said: "The Oil & Gas UK Awards recognise the contribution being made today by a new generation of young people and their mentors as well as the benefits of effective working relationships between operators and contracting companies. 

"To meet the economic and technical challenges presented by the UKs maturing basin, the North Sea relies not only on the abilities, technical skills and ambitions of the people working in our industry but also on their constructive collaboration.  These people and the relationships between them will carry the sector forward through the challenges of the decades ahead."

ENDS

Britta Hallbauer Press & PR Manager 3rd Floor, The Exchange 2 62 Market Street Aberdeen AB11 5PJ Tel: 01224 577331 Mob: 07891769113 Email: bhallbauer@oilandgasuk.co.uk