Winners announced at Offshore Achievement Awards 2017

March 2017

An audience of industry professionals came together last night to recognise innovation, collaboration and exceptional performance within the UK offshore energy sector.  

Twelve companies and individuals were revealed as the winners at the Offshore Achievement Awards 2017, a night which culminated in Oonagh Werngren being presented with the accolade for Significant Contribution.

Other winners included JDR Cable Systems, which collected two awards for Export Achievement and Great Large Company, whilst Enpro Subsea was named Great Small Company.

Individually, Marianne McKevitt of BP received the Young Professional award, whilst Sam Lisney of Petrofac EPS West was named winner of the Above & Beyond category.

Further companies completing the list of winners included M-FLOW Technologies, Delphian Ballistics, Cape Plc, Exnics, TAQA, and Maersk Oil, Amec Foster Wheeler and Bilfinger Salamis for a collaborative contracting strategy.

Ian Phillips, chairman of the OAA organising committee said: 

“Once again, the finalists and winners of this year’s Offshore Achievement Awards have showcased the important work that continues to take place in our industry.
“In the first few months of 2017, we have seen improved prospects for the UKCS which has in turn created a slightly more positive sentiment. It is crucial that we harness and use this enthusiasm to continue collaborating, innovating, creating efficiencies and developing best practice.
“The standard of entries this year was both inspiring and encouraging, and presented the judges with an extremely tough job when it came to selecting the winners. SPE Aberdeen and the OAA sponsors would like to congratulate all of the winners, each of whom impressed us with their ambition and passion for their work.”

Significant Contribution winner Oonagh Werngren was recognised for work including her former role as operations director at Oil & Gas UK, where she was responsible for establishing a number of pan-industry projects to increase exploration and production in the UKCS. She was also previously president of the PESGB, one of only two women to hold the position in over 50 years, and has held non-executive director roles for OGIC (the Oil and Gas Innovation Centre) and ITF (the Industry Technology Facilitator), as well as The Girls’ Network.  In 2011, Oonagh was awarded an MBE for services to the oil and gas industry. 

Of her Offshore Achievement Award win, Oonagh said: 

“To receive the news that I was the recipient of this year’s Significant Contribution award was extremely exciting, and I’m honoured to be recognised by my peers within the UK offshore industry.
“I’ve been involved in a number of major industry projects during the last four decades, and would like to express deep gratitude to all the colleagues I have worked with during this time. Many of these people have been a great inspiration and a privilege to work alongside, in particular the young analysts, engineers and geologists who are destined to become the next generation’s leaders. 
“I am also inspired by the recent activities to acquire and release new seismic data which will contribute significantly to our geological knowledge of the remaining North Sea resources. It is heartening that exploration and production companies are showing signs of growing optimism and, providing fresh investment comes into the basin and costs are kept under control, there are good reasons to believe that confidence is slowly returning to the sector.”

Donald Taylor, acting managing director for principal sponsor, TAQA Europe said: 

“Once again the Offshore Achievement Awards has been a great showcase for the strength, creativity and ambition we see in the oil and gas and renewable industries.  It is encouraging to see so many companies and individuals taking the time to share their success stories. The winners demonstrate a diverse range of significant achievements, showing just how much the industry is still driving forward, finding innovative solutions and efficiencies.”

The winners in each category are:

Emerging Technology Awards - Sponsored by Nexen 
WINNER – M-FLOW Technologies 

Innovator Award - Sponsored by Oil & Gas Innovation Centre 
WINNER – Delphian Ballistics 

Safety Innovations Award - Sponsored by Offshore Europe Partnership 
WINNER – Cape plc

Environmental Innovation Award 
WINNER – Exnics 

Export Achievement Award
WINNER – JDR Cable Systems Ltd

Collaboration Award - Sponsored by Marks & Clerk 
WINNER – Maersk Oil/Amec Foster Wheeler/Bilfinger Salamis 

Outstanding Skills Development Programme Award - Sponsored by Heriot Watt University  
WINNER – TAQA

*As TAQA submitted an application in this category, the TAQA judges were excluded from judging this award, and left the room whilst judging took place to avoid any potential conflict of interest*

Young Professional Award - Sponsored by BP 
WINNER – Marianne McKevitt, BP 
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Mandy Johnstone, N-Sea 

*As BP submitted an application in this category, the BP judges were excluded from judging this award, and left the room whilst judging took place to avoid any potential conflict of interest*

Above & Beyond Award 
WINNER – Sam Lisney, Petrofac EPS, West 
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Bob Banks, Petrofac EPS, West

Great Small Company Award - Sponsored by Wood Group 
WINNER – Enpro Subsea 

Great Large Company Award 
WINNER – JDR Cable Systems 

Significant Contribution Award - Sponsored by Aker Solutions 
WINNER – Oonagh Werngren

Entries will open in October 2017 for the 2018 awards. For more information on how you can get involved, contact us. 

Interested in finding out more about the Aberdeen section, or would you like to get involved, then don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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SPE Aberdeen Section

The Offshore Achievement Awards

The Offshore Achievement Awards (OAAs) recognise outstanding achievements in the energy industry.