Friday 7 November 2003

UKOOA finds Pearl in the North Sea!

THE WINNER of the UK Offshore Operators Associations Pearl Award was announced at the organisations 30th Anniversary Energy Dinner last night at the Ardoe House Hotel, Aberdeen.

30 year-old JEANETTE GORDON, a well engineer at Peak Well Management Limited, was selected because her contribution, vision and commitment to the future of the UKCS personify the success of the industry to date.

The winner was presented with her prize, a trophy - a piece of core drilled in Shells Dunlin field thirty years ago - and a cheque for £500, by Alex Salmond MP for Banff and Buchan.

Jeanette was chosen after her employer, Peak Well Management, nominated her, with the Managing Director - Bob Lyons - describing her as a Pearl within Peak. In Jeanettes written submission, which was judged by a group of key influencers in the industry, she portrayed an evolving, technically innovative industry in which she was looking forward to the next 30 years of revolutionary change.

In order to be considered for the prize, UKOOA invited companies across the UK oil and gas industry to nominate their most promising thirty year olds who had then to write a short essay about how they envisaged the future of the UKCS.

Steve Harris, UKOOAs acting director general, said: The hunt for this Pearl was not easy; competition was tough, with a large number of high quality entrants. However, it is exciting and reassuring to see that the industry employs some very promising young people who will carry the sector forward through the next thirty years. Jeanette is just the kind of thirty year old who will rise to the challenges ahead. We expect to hear a lot more about her in the future.

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Note to Editors

1.The UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA) is the representative organisation for companies licensed by the British Government to explore for and produce hydrocarbons in UK waters. It has 29 members.

2.The UK Offshore Operators Association was formed in June 1973. It replaced the UK Offshore Operators Committee which, under the earlier name of the UK Operators Committee, was founded in 1964. The new Association was born from the recognition that with the North Sea on the brink of developing into a major oil and gas province attracting an increasing number of operators, a more formal organisation was required to meet the growing needs of the industry.

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