Congratulating the Award winners the Hon’ble Minister urged industry members for adoption of a scientific temper to exploit the possibilities in the hydrocarbon sector through innovation and modern technology. PetroFed, he said, should be our vibrant think tank for channelizing the collective wisdom in the industry. The hydrocarbon sector has done a lot of work but its humane element is not appreciated by the people. Developed countries have social security but we have it in-built in our system, he added.

Shri K. D. Tripathi, Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas complimented PetroFed for instituting the awards which have a rigorous process of evaluation with an eminent Jury and a distinguished Awards Committee. He exhorted the industry to improve recovery factor from producing fields besides looking at other avenues of production through shale gas, CBM, gas hydrates etc.

On the occasion the Hon’ble Minister also released ‘The Oil & Gas Year India 2015’ publication, which was produced in partnership with PetroFed.

Welcoming participants earlier, Chairman PetroFed and Chairman, IndianOil Shri B. Ashok lauded the new reforms in the country which are improving business and investor confidence and attracting capital inflows. The low oil prices, he said, have helped oil importing countries like India. We cannot, however, lose sight of increasing energy efficiency and reducing GHG emissions with increasing use of renewables.

A brief on the genesis of the Awards was presented by the Director General, PetroFed, Shri A. K. Arora. A vote of thanks was proposed by the Vice Chairman, PetroFed and President (Refinery Business), RIL, Shri P. Raghavendran.

The scheme of Awards is open to all companies operating in India in the oil & gas sector. The evaluation is undertaken in line with pre-determined weightages assigned to various parameters fixed after due validation. Each award category must receive a prescribed minimum number of applications for giving away an award. Each award carries a trophy and a citation. The Woman Executive of the Year award also carries a cash prize of ` one lakh. The Innovator of the Year individual award has a cash component of ` two lakh while the team award has a prize of ` five lakh with each member of the team getting at least ` 50,000/-.

The Awards Committee is headed by Dr. Prodipto Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow, TERI and former Secretary to the Government of India. The members of the Awards Committee are Shri B. C. Bora, former CMD, ONGC; Shri M. B. Lal, former Chairman & Managing Director, HPCL.; Shri P. K. Agarwal, Director, Human Resources Division & Senior Fellow, TERI & former Director (Marketing) & Director (HR), IndianOil; Shri U. K. Dikshit, Director (Programmes), SCOPE & former ED (HR), IndianOil.

The Jury is headed by Hon’ble Mr. Justice M. N. Venkatachaliah, former Chief Justice of India. The other members of the Jury are Dr. Anil Kakodkar, former Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary to the Government of India and currently holding INAE Satish Dhawan Chair of Engineering Eminence at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Shri Naresh Narad, former Chairman, Public Enterprises Selection Board and former Secretary to the Government of India.

Winners of PetroFed Awards 2013 for performance during 2012-13:

• Leading Oil & Gas Corporate of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Indian Oil Corporation Limited


• Exploration & Production - Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited


• Refinery of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Reliance Industries Limited


• Oil & Gas Pipeline Transportation - Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited


• Oil & Gas Marketing - Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Indian Oil Corporation Limited


• Project Management (` 500-2000 crore) Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Limited


• Human Resources Management Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Indian Oil Corporation Limited


• Environmental Sustainability - Company of the Year
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited


• Game Changer – Oil & Gas Company of the Year
  

  Special Commendation

  
  
  

  Indian Oil Corporation Limited
  
  jointly with
  
  LanzaTech Inc.

  
  


• Innovator of the Year – Individual
  

  Special Commendation

  
  
  

  Gnana Kumaraswamy Batta
  
  Senior Geophysicist
  
  Oil India Limited

  
  


• Innovator of the Year – Team
  
  
  
  Awarded to
  
  Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
  
  Team Led by Sanjay Bhargava
  
  Head, Corporate R&D Centre, BPCL
  

  Team Members: B. K. Datta, Director (Refineries), BPCL; V. Suresh, Dy. Gen. Mgr. (Technical), BPCL; Dr. D. T. Gokak, Chief Manager (R&D); I. Sasi, Senior Manager (Operations), BPCL; B. Kundu, Manager (Technical), BPCL; Dr. Chiranjeevi Thota, Manager (R&D), BPCL; Pragya Rai, Deputy Manager (R&D), BPCL

  
  


• Woman Executive of the Year in the Oil & Gas Industry
  
   


• Awarded to
  
  Mamoni Basumatary
  
  Senior Manager (Technical Services)
  
  Guwahati Refinery, Indian Oil Corporation Limited