The Offshore Achievement Awards (OAA) is gearing up for its first ever virtual awards ceremony, allowing finalists and winners to be celebrated by industry on Friday 14 August, 2020.
Originally planned to take place at the P&J Live on 19 March, the date was postponed due to the global COVID-19 outbreak which placed a halt on events around the world.
Instead, a virtual ceremony, hosted and organised by the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Aberdeen Section and supported by long standing principal sponsor, TAQA, will now be streamed across a range of online platforms.
Rachel Riley will return as the host for the evening, taking part in a live Q&A as well as presenting the award winners across ten categories, including the new, highly anticipated ‘Energy Transition for Future Generations’ award. The 34 finalists, announced at the start of this year, will find out if they have clinched a prestigious OAA trophy, designed by Gray’s School of Art student and competition winner, Rachel Mackay.
Ian Phillips, chair of the Offshore Achievement Awards organising committee said: “As the offshore industry deals with the impact of COVID-19, it is more important than ever to recognise outstanding contributions from people and organisations in the UK offshore oil and gas and renewables sectors.
“We would have been delighted to see finalists and guests in person on the night, but are pleased that we can come together virtually to celebrate some of the sector’s biggest achievements. We hope that the innovation and ingenuity shown by the winners will help inspire others as the industry enters a period of recovery.”
Donald Taylor, Europe managing director at TAQA said: “The offshore oil and gas and renewables sectors are well versed in being adaptable and agile and as proponents of new technologies to overcome challenges in our industries, it seems fitting that we are still able to hold a high-quality awards ceremony and celebration through the use of clever technology.
“I am pleased that the hard work of all the entrants, judges, and organising team is still going to come to fruition, and I am very much looking forward to hearing about all the achievements of the finalists and winners on the night.”
Read More: Offshore Achievement Awards go virtual for 2020 ceremony – News for the Oil
