Last call for entries for Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards

People and organisations that are making outstanding contributions to the success of Scotland’s oil and gas industry have until Friday 29^th January to enter this year’s prestigious Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards.

Organised by Scottish Enterprise, and supported by industry sponsors, the esteemed awards showcase and recognise exceptional achievements across the sector. Now in their 25^th year the so-called ‘Oil Oscars’ will be held at the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre on 25^th March 2010.

Adrian Gillespie, Director of Energy and Low Carbon Technologies at Scottish Enterprise, commented: “These awards are seen as the most prominent in the oil and gas calendar, giving companies and individuals the opportunity to highlight their success to the wider industry and emphasise the continued importance of the sector in Scotland.

We are looking forward to once again receiving a large number of high-calibre entries that demonstrate the continued commitment and enthusiasm of Scotland’s oil and gas companies. I encourage all those from recent start-ups, SME’s, global groups and technology developers to engineering and service companies that can demonstrate outstanding success in the industry, to put themselves forward.

Scotland is a key player in the global energy sphere and the industry is a major contributor to the Scottish economy so it’s vital that we recognise and celebrate the hard work that is involved in that success.”

The award categories and sponsors of the Scottish Offshore Achievement Awards 2010 are:

• Export Achievement sponsored by The Press & Journal
• Internationalisation of Scottish Skills sponsored by Scottish Qualifications Authority
• Safety sponsored by BP
• The idea sponsored by Department of Energy and Climate Change and ITF
• Rising Star Sponsored by AMEC Natural Resources
• Small Company Great Performance sponsored by The Offshore Europe Partnership
• Succeeding Through People sponsored by Chevron
• The Innovator sponsored by Department of energy and Climate Change
• Outstanding Contribution sponsored by Shell U.K Limited

Full details of the categories and how to enter can be found at www.scottish-enterprise.com/soaa. Category winners, with the exception of The Idea award and the Outstanding Contribution award, will win an assisted business development package for two people to attend the 2010 Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), which will be held in Houston, Texas from 3 to 6 May 2010.

The Idea award winner will receive £5,000 for further development of ‘The Idea’. In addition there may be the opportunity to work with award sponsors ITF to help develop a proposal for submission for further possible funding as a ‘pioneer’ project.