Industry leaders were celebrated in Calgary Tuesday, as executives from the Petroleum Technology Alliance Canada (PTAC) delivered awards to individuals and companies that stood out from their peers in Western Canada’s oil industry.

In all, 11 individuals, two companies and one non-profit was honoured at the PTAC luncheon, which was also the venue for the organization’s annual general meeting. Not least among those honoured was PTAC alumnus Dave Rushford, who took this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Cited for “outstanding leadership and strategic guidance” to PTAC and its board of directors, Rushford was a previous board chairman. In particular, his commitment to sustainable development of Canada’s hydrocarbon resources through innovation, collaborative research, technology development, demonstration, and deployment was noted.

This year, PTAC’s President’s Award for leadership in collaborative research and development (R&D) went to Richard Dunn, vice-president, government relations, for Encana Corporation. Dunn provided strong leadership and commitment to help industry find cost-effective solutions to meet emissions reduction targets through innovation, collaborative research, technology development, demonstration, and deployment.

Also recognized Tuesday was Sean Heibert of ConocoPhillips Canada, who took the Chairperson’s Award for playing “an instrumental role” in PTAC’s Air and GHG initiatives for many years, advocating for industry stakeholders to support R&D through PTAC Committees, among other initiatives.

This year’s Outstanding Service Award, presented to past PTAC board members, goes to Mark Johnstone. The award recognizes those who have left “an outstanding legacy in the Canadian oil and gas industry,” notably in making strong collaborative efforts and for leadership in advancing research and technology development, devoted service, and commitment to achieving sustainable hydrocarbon development.

This year’s Ecological Leadership Award was given to Scott Grindal, also with ConocoPhillips Canada, who showed “valuable direction and leadership on collaborative projects” tied to industry performance and environmental excellence through the PTAC Ecological Research Planning Committee.”

Also recognized was Debbie Tainton of Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL), who received the Soil and Groundwater Research Leadership Award for her “valuable direction and leadership on collaborative projects related to industry performance and environmental excellence through PTAC’s Soil and Groundwater Research Committee.

This year’s Water Innovation Leadership Award went to Michael Bevan of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER). Bevan offered “valuable direction and leadership on collaborative projects tied to industry performance and environmental excellence through PTAC’s Water Innovation Planning Committee.

Also Tuesday, the Air Quality R&D Leadership Award was given to Greg Unrau of Repsol Oil & Gas Canada Inc. Unrau provided “valuable direction and leadership on projects related to industry performance and environmental excellence through PTAC’s Air Research Planning Committee.”

This year’s Well Abandonment Leadership Award went to Leah Davies, with CNRL, for her valuable direction and leadership on collaborative projects related to industry performance and environmental excellence through PTAC’s Well-abandonment Research Initiative Committee.

This year’s Eco-Efficiency Leadership Award went to Alice Yu of Cenovus Energy Inc., for consistently showing outstanding collaborative efforts in work related to PTAC’s emissions reduction and eco-efficiency  (TEREE) committee, among other initiatives. In particular, her work on the Canadian Upstream Oil and Gas Eco-Efficiency Handbook and the Canadian Upstream Oil and Gas Energy Efficient Operations Handbook was recognized.

The Pipeline Leadership Award was given to Dave Hoffman of Enbridge Inc., who was instrumental in the success of PTAC’s Pipeline Abandonment Research Steering Committee, and provided outstanding collaborative effort and leadership through his help in addressing knowledge gaps in the pipeline abandonment realm.

This year’s Corporate Leadership Award went to Encana Corporation, whose executives and staff provided “significant leadership through PTAC’s AUPRF and TEREE programs. More recently, Encana assisted PTAC on the methane emissions reductions file, providing support to numerous methane reductions initiatives slated for launch in 2017, PTAC said.

This year’s Collaborative Spirit Award went to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC), a longstanding PTAC partner that has supported collaborative R&D initiatives in the Canadian hydrocarbon industry for 70 years. “SRC has partnered with PTAC on numerous innovation initiatives including but not limited to, road-mapping the unconventional Bakken play, establishing a Centre for Demonstration of Emissions Reductions Technologies, and launching numerous industry events which promote the progression of the innovation ecosystem within our sector.

This year’s Commercializing of SME Technology Award went to Black Gold Rush Industries, which demonstrated “exceptional collaborative effort” through successfully developing and implementing their enclosed vapour combustors in Canada and the United States. “Their technology is an extremely useful tool for Industry to mitigate methane emissions, as [it is] built to comply with current and anticipated industry regulatory requirements,” PTAC said. Tuesday’s awards luncheon was PTAC’s 21st annual event of the kind.