ANCHORAGE, Alaska — August 3, 2021— The Alaska Oil and Gas Association will honor individuals and companies for their achievements working in the oil and gas industry at its annual conference on Sept. 2, 2021, at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage.

The 2021 AOGA Industry Awards winners are:

CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR AWARD FOR SAFETY PERFORMANCE, sponsored by the Alaska Support Industry Alliance: NANA Management Services and Beacon (two awards issued.)

The Contractor of the Year Award for Safety Performance, sponsored by the Alaska Support Industry Alliance, recognizes an oil and gas support company that has demonstrated exemplary commitment to safety. Because 2021 has been an extraordinary year, two awards were issued.

The first winner is NANA Management Services. In 2020, COVID-19 played a significant role in how NMS addressed safety. As soon as the pandemic began, NMS set up a COVID-19 mitigation plan to test, quarantine and isolate employees when necessary. For those in isolation, NMS set up a system that provided basic needs as well as daily wellness checks for employees. NMS also accelerated the implementation of computer-based training for all employees to maintain social distancing.

The second winner is Beacon, also selected for its monumental efforts to keep employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. By conquering overwhelming difficulties to keep oil and gas operations running safely, Beacon staff stepped up to offer screening, testing and outstanding medical care. From Cook Inlet to the North Slope and many locations in between, Beacon led the way in protecting the workforce and the well-being of a vital industry to Alaska’s economy.

THE RISING STAR AWARD: Raymond Ballard, Marathon Petroleum Corp.

The Rising Star Award honors a young professional oil and gas industry employee under the age of 35 who has made an immediate and definitive impact on the oil and gas industry in Alaska.

Originally from Nome and raised in Anchorage, Ray Ballard received his B.S. in chemical engineering and certificate of leadership studies from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT). Ray then worked for UOP as a field service chief technical advisor worldwide, providing commissioning and startup service for refinery process units in Turkey, Italy, China, Brazil, Czech Republic, Spain, Israel, and the United States. He received the UOP Gold award for outstanding technical service in 2013 for his work at the Ecofining Technology startup in Louisiana. Ray returned home to Alaska in 2015 to work as a process engineer for Marathon Petroleum at the Kenai Refinery and has progressed through the ranks to operations area team lead, directly supervising 35 operations personnel. In 2017, he completed his M.S. in Arctic Engineering from the University of Alaska. 

ALASKA OIL & GAS PROJECT OF THE YEAR FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP AND INNOVATION, sponsored by Stoel Rives: ConocoPhillips Alaska’s Greater Mooses Tooth 2 (GMT2)

The Alaska Oil and Gas Project of the Year for Environmental Stewardship and Innovation, sponsored by Stoel Rives, honors an Alaska oil and gas industry project that demonstrates superior environmental stewardship in its area of design, construction or operation and/or an innovative approach that sets a new standard for industry design, construction or operation in Alaska.

Greater Mooses Tooth 2 (GMT2) is ConocoPhillips’ second development project in the Greater Mooses Tooth Unit, located in the northeast National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPR-A) on the North Slope. The project consists of a satellite drill site, gravel access road, pipelines, and associated facilities that tie into existing oil and gas infrastructure at GMT1 and the Colville River Unit. Construction began in winter 2019 with first oil planned by the end of 2021. With a peak estimated monthly production of 35,000-40,000 barrels of oil per day (BOPD), GMT2 is a significant part of ConocoPhillips’ plans to maintain an active role in Alaska’s economic future for years to come.

MARILYN CROCKETT LIFETIME ACHEIVEMENT AWARD: Greg Wilson, ConocoPhillips Alaska.

The Marilyn Crockett Lifetime Achievement Award is named in honor of the former AOGA executive director who dedicated her 41-year career to, as she stated, “growing Alaska’s economy through a vibrant oil and gas sector in the state.” This award honors the dedication Marilyn displayed during her career: exceptional devotion of time, effort, thought, and action consistently shown in his/her work for the betterment of the oil and gas industry in Alaska.

Greg Wilson has spent his career supporting and leading Alaska exploration teams with ARCO, Phillips, and ConocoPhillips. Greg was recruited by ARCO for its Anchorage office in 1990 as a petroleum geologist, and has spent decades since then working in Alaska exploration. One of the key highlights of his career was the discovery of the oil and gas fields in the northeastern National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (NPR-A) in 1999.

These discoveries now comprise the current developments that include the Alpine oil field facility in the Colville River Unit, and the other newer developments in the Greater Mooses Tooth Unit (GMTU), GMT-1 and GMT-2.

The 2021 AOGA Industry Awards were received and reviewed by a five-person committee made up of industry experts, both active and retired, in the fields of government and public affairs; business; environmental and regulatory affairs; land management; and environmental law.

AOGA is a professional trade association whose mission is to foster the long-term viability of the oil and gas industry in Alaska for the benefit of all Alaskans. More information about the organization can be found at www.aoga.org, on Facebook (AlaskaOilAndGas), or Twitter (@AOGA).

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