Yemisi Izuora
Three Months after winning the coveted awards at the 2019 Society of Petroleum Engineers Conference, energy giant, Shell Companies in Nigeria have now won the most sought-after Best Exhibitor award at the National Association of Petroleum Exploration (NAPE) annual international conference and exhibition held in Lagos between November 19-22, 2019.
Shell General Manager Development, Chibogwu Sam Ezugworie, was also honoured with the Fellowship of NAPE in a glittering ceremony that had industry top-notchers in attendance.
To crown off a successful conference for the energy organisation, a team of Shell staff, (Ovwigho Irifeta, Bart Tichelaar , Pratap Nair, David Obiga, Sunday Awe, Kunle Bakare, Magnus Kanu and Celestine Ugwu) also won the Award for Best Paper in the Technical Awards category, for “An Integrated Approach to managing narrow drilling margins of high pressure (HP) prospects, central Swamp depobelt, Niger Delta.”
Winning the much-anticipated Best Exhibitor Award was a return to the top spot for Shell. The company was the runner up for the 2018 edition after it had been a most consistent winner in previous conferences.
Country Chairman, Shell Companies in Nigeria, and Managing Director, The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC), Mr. Osagie Okunbor, said “It is encouraging to us at Shell to know that our drive for consistent excellence and diligence, as displayed by the hardworking staff of Shell in Nigeria at this conference, is appreciated by stakeholders and those who visited our booth.”
Osagie, represented by Shell General Manager Exploration, Mr. Dan Agbaire, said, “This award, coming just a day after Nigerians again voted Shell as “The Best Company To Work For” in the Jobberman Top 100 Companies To Work For in Nigeria, makes us recognise that, being an industry leader puts on us enormous responsibility and we have to continue to rethink and reshape our strategies in a manner that brings optimal value to Nigeria, our partners and the local service industry.”
He said that Shell companies would continue to invest in industry growth, new technologies and professional development and affiliation of its workforce.
Shell exhibition combined illustrative and educative posters with learning sessions for young and student engineers and free medical services for conference participants where hundreds of persons received medical checks and prescription drugs.
Earlier in the year, Shell companies in Nigeria emerged the “International Oil Company With The Most Impactful Local Content Initiatives In The Upstream Category” at the 2019 edition of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Opportunity Fair organised by the country’s local content regulator, Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board. The companies were also named the “Local Content Operator of the Year” at the 2019 Annual Oil Industry Achievement Awards by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN).