Energy Excellence Awards – Nomination Period Begins Today

With the Canadian energy industry apparently under siege, as it suffers from negatives such as wide heavy oil differentials, lack of pipeline access to markets and government policies that threaten its competitiveness, there’s a new initiative that will focus on the positives of the entire energy sector and the steps it continues to take to play a leading role in the country’s economy.

The Energy Excellence Awards program, which officially launches today, will highlight the excellence of some of the energy sector’s players, featuring a nomination and selection process that will draw attention to companies selected as examples of Operational Excellence, Innovation & Research Excellence, and Exporting Excellence.

The Energy Excellence Awards program will include a nomination process that extends from now until the end of January, a series of articles in the Daily Oil Bulletin (DOB) that will profile the nominated companies, and an awards ceremony that will take place on May 2 at Calgary’s Devonian Gardens.

“The awards are presented by the DOB, which has served the oil and gas industry for over 80 years,” says Bemal Mehta, senior vice-president of Energy Intelligence at JWN, which publishes the Bulletin. “We’ve provided energy industry data and intelligence and industry leadership over that period. We’ve also told the story of the industry’s positive accomplishments — but we recognize we could do an even better job of celebrating the industry’s successes.”

Mehta says the Energy Excellence initiative comes at an ideal time, given the struggles Canada’s fossil fuel sector faces with “challenging commodity prices and unfair treatment” from governments and other sectors of Canadian society.

Those challenges and attacks aside, the energy sector continues to dominate the country’s economy. For instance, according to Natural Resources Canada, the energy sector accounted for 276,000 direct jobs in 2017 and supported over 624,000 jobs overall, was responsible for 11 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product, and generates government revenues averaging almost $16 billion a year. Between 2012 and 2016, the energy sector was responsible for 11 per cent of operating revenues earned by governments in Canada.

Mehta says the program is a continuation of ongoing efforts by JWN to focus on the excellence of the energy sector, including its longstanding Rising Stars initiative, which highlights younger energy industry leaders.

“The industry has been very good at [highlighting] data and facts [about its players] but not very good at being a storyteller,” he says.

And, despite the impression that JWN is primarily a fossil fuel industry information source — something Mehta would argue isn’t a bad thing — he emphasizes that the Energy Excellence program will include “all of the above” involved in the energy sector, including those in the power and clean technology sectors.

Nominees for the Energy Excellence Awards will be profiled by JWN’s journalists over the weeks leading up to the awards ceremony.

Within the three broad areas of Operational Excellence, Innovation & Research Excellence and Exporting Excellence, there are 13 subcategories. The areas to be included among nominations are:

  • Operational Excellence: Top Oilsands Project, Top Pipeline/Facilities Project, Top Natural Gas Project, Top Conventional Oil Project, Top Power Generation/Transmission Project.
  • Innovation & Research Excellence: Drilling & Completion Technologies, Production Technologies, Digital Oilfield, Cleantech.
  • Exporting Excellence: Oilfield Services & Manufacturing, Advanced Technologies, Cleantech Products/Services, Professional Service.

The Energy Excellence nominees will be companies that not only excel in excellence, but will be champions of collaboration in the energy sector. The program draws attention to winning formulas, supply chain sophistication, innovation and operational and exporting excellence.

Mehta says the stories of Canada’s energy sector leaders need to be told.

“We want to tell these stories to people within the industry, but also to those outside the industry,” he says.

The nomination process will be simple.

“There won’t be a 40-page nomination form,” Mehta says. “It involves a quick synopsis. Our journalists will contact the nominees and tell their stories.”

A JWN committee, including staffers and outside judges, will be involved in the vetting process which will lead to the winners being selected.

Nominations for the Energy Excellence program begin today.

To access the online nomination forms go to http://www.energyexcellenceawards.com/.

Those interested in nominating a company simply need to scroll to the bottom of each category, where they will see a “Nominate” space. Simply click on it and complete the online form.

Employees and other insiders of those companies that are nominated will be allowed to participate.

Dear user, please be aware that we use cookies to help users navigate our website content and to help us understand how we can improve the user experience. If you have ideas for how we can improve our services, we’d love to hear from you. Click here to email us. By continuing to browse you agree to our use of cookies. Please see our Privacy & Cookie Usage Policy to learn more.