Recognizing the outstanding achievements of ADNOC Group Companies and contractors, Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi, ADNOC Deputy CEO, E&P Director, presented awards to winners of ADNOC’s 2007 HSE Award on May 20, 2008 in a ceremony held at the Sheraton Hotel.

The winners of the 11th HSE Award included GASCO for innovation, NDC for health, ADMA-OPCO for safety, ADCO for environment and ADGAS for HSE performance, while the runner-ups in the award’s five categories included ZADCO for innovation, BUNDUQ for health, ADOC for safety, ADMA-OPCO for environment and again ZADCO for HSE performance.

FERTIL also won this year’s new award ‘Sustainable Development Award’ which was designed for the project which demonstrated the use of advanced technology and sustainable practices that have positively contributed to the environment.

Seven special recognition awards were also given to projects which scored high in the judging process in addition to the five main Award categories for first and second prize winners, while Group Company and Contractor partnerships for the top two contractor submissions had been recognized.

Delivering the opening speech on behalf of H.E. Yousef Omair Bin Yousef, Secretary General of the Supreme Petroleum Council and CEO of ADNOC, Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi pointed out that while the world’s demand for reliable and sustainable energy was steadily growing, ADNOC was aware of its challenging role within the energy industry to meet these growing demands while placing great importance on HSE performance and upholding high standards of social responsibility.

“ADNOC and its Group Companies are successfully meeting this challenge by increasing oil and natural gas production without compromising our dedication to environmental, health and safety excellence,” he said.

“Despite our rapid growth and expansion efforts, I am pleased to report that in 2007 we achieved a lowest record for Lost Time Injuries Frequency (LTIF) of 0.25 injuries per million manhours worked. This accomplishment demonstrates the effectiveness of our HSE Management System and I thank our employees and contractors for their continuous efforts and dedication to sustainable growth. On the environment front we started in 2007 building our Group-wide Air Quality Monitoring System which will produce continuing improvements to our environmental performance.

With the presentation of our eleventh Annual HSE Awards winners, we carry on the tradition of recognizing and encouraging our employees who adhere to the highest standards of HSE practices. I congratulate this year’s award winners and applaud their exceptional efforts to protect the environment and to promote health and safety. I also thank all those individuals, companies and contractors that participated in the program for the commitment and effort they demonstrated in 2007.

Earlier, Mr. Bakheet Al Ameri, EH&S Manager, SPC, said that due to the great enthusiasm for the program and the overwhelming number of submissions, the judging panel had to  restrict the number of submissions to 20 for each group company, making the total of submissions in 2007 as 179 while the quality of submissions has improved considerably.

In opening remarks before welcoming Mr. Abdulla Nasser Al Suwaidi to the podium, Mr. Bakheet expressed his pleasure in the excellent response to this year’s HSE Award program where a wide variety of projects had been submitted covering new approaches to high hazard control operations, flare reduction, recycling, energy conservation, training and other projects that promote the wellbeing of employees, contractors and communities.

“In the quest for continuous improvement, an additional category ‘Sustainable Development’ has been introduced. This award has been given to the project which demonstrated the use of advanced technology and sustainable practices which has positively contributed to the environment.” He said.

He extended his thanks to all individuals, companies and contractors for the 11th HSE Award entries and their substantial contribution for achieving the HSE objectives.

“I would like to thank in particular, the senior management in SPC, ADNOC and all General Managers of Group companies for demonstrating leadership by integrating HSE into all business activities and for their continuous support to this program. As a result of this leadership, many serious accidents have been averted and so far our business has successfully completed more than 35 years without any major accident, whilst we have seen many major accidents/ disasters in the hydrocarbon industries world wide in the last three decade,” Mr. Bakheet concluded.

The ADNOC HSE Awards were initiated in 1997 to recognize outstanding achievements by employees and affiliated contractors of the ADNOC Group Companies in the areas of Health, Safety & Environment. The Awards provide tangible evidence of ADNOC’s commitment to HSE and are a key element in the ongoing objective to promote HSE amongst company employees and contractors. The Awards program is designed to motivate companies, teams and individuals to investigate and initiate activities that are beneficial to the health and safety of employees and the public, and the protection of the environment in which they operate.