In addition to TOGY’s energy report, the minister also received the award for Legislation of the Year in recognition of the passage of Gabon’s long anticipated and wide ranging Hydrocarbons Code.

Published by Wildcat International and produced in partnership with the Ministry of Petroleum and Hydrocarbons, APIEX and UPEGA, The Oil & Gas Year Gabon 2014 presents an in-depth look at the developments of the country’s oil and gas industry, including interviews with major stakeholders such as Gabon Oil Union president Jacqueline Bignoumba, winner of TOGY Gabon Woman of the Year award, and Total directeur genéral adjoint Théodore Iyezé, who accepted the Local Content Developer of the Year on behalf of Total, which won the award for financing the construction of the Centre for Professional Specialisation to provide national workers engaged in hydrocarbons activities with the necessary technical skills. Gabonese Company of the Year went to local drilling company Foraserv, represented by general manager Marc Tchango. The accolades were awarded by TOGY publisher Emmanuelle Berthement and country director Marielle De Leener.

The Oil & Gas Year Gabon 2014, a carefully researched market report on a nation whose ultra-deepwater gas reserves are drawing international interest, also features the results of a strategic roundtable featuring key industry stakeholders and public representatives. The roundtable highlighted the importance of local content to making Gabon into a more attractive investment destination, as well as the country’s potential to become a major oil and gas hub in the region.

The launch event’s awards ceremony recognised the most outstanding companies and individuals operating in the Angolan oil and gas industry over the past year. Total E&P Angola received the award for Company of the Year following the start-up of its CLOV development and the sanctioning of its $16-billion Kaombo project in ultra-deepwater block 32. The ongoing and upcoming exploration and appraisal programmes in the country’s pre-salt Kwanza Basin also received significant attention, with Cobalt International Energy’s blocks 20 and 21 leading the way. Attention is similarly paid to the country’s offshore rig market, whose exponential growth has been inextricably linked to the rise in pre-salt activity. Paenal was awarded Fabrication Project of the Year for the fabrication and integration of the two largest ever wellhead platforms built in Angola.

Produced in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, whose assurance partner Sarju Raikundalia spoke at the event, The Oil & Gas Year Angola 2014 highlights recent successes of in-country fabrication. In an effort to give this topic a special platform, TOGY’s energy report examines the continued Angolanisation efforts and recent milestones stemming from both the public and private sectors in the field of fabrication. A special chapter, as well as a strategic roundtable featuring key industry stakeholders, helped to bring this most pressing topic to the forefront.

Produced in partnership with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy and Centurion LLP, the leading law firm in the region The Oil & Gas Year Equatorial Guinea 2014 highlights the dramatic uptick in drilling activity and the efforts made to monetise Equatorial Guinea’s recent gas finds through Africa’s very first floating LNG vessel.

Having worked to establish an economically viable business climate for both the state and international companies alike, director general of hydrocarbons for the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy Mercedes Eworo Milam was presented the Woman of the Year award.

TOGY’s editor-in-chief Gilles Valentin and chief operating officer Aslı Konyalı handed out the Upstream Development of the Year Award to Ophir Energy general manager Mike A. Cockman, recognising the importance of the company’s 10-well drilling programme in deepwater Block R that aims to increase reserves to 99 bcm (3.5 tcf). Hess was named Exploration and Production Company of the Year, with Marathon Oil’s Abla B3 compression platform receiving the honour of National Content Project of the Year.

Equatorial Guinea: A History of Oil, sponsored by Atlas Petroleum International, charts the history of the Equatoguinean oil and gas industry from the founding of the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy and the country’s initial production to the governments downstream diversification plans and future vision.

Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter delivered a keynote address, after which TOGY’s regional director and country director presented BHP Billiton vice-president of government and external affairs Fred Hagemeyer with the Company of the Year award. BHP Billiton’s $4-billion-per-year commitment to developing the Eagle Ford, as well as its drive for continued drilling and operating efficiencies, is an indication of the oil and gas industry’s confidence in developing unconventional shale in the US and an example of the valuable role international investors play in realising the US goal of energy independence.

With horizontal drilling and the hydraulic fracturing of shale driving Texas’ surge in hydrocarbons production, The Oil & Gas Year Eagle Ford Texas Shale 2014 pays particular attention to water management and technological innovation. Recognising the importance of the innovative NOMAD and ROVER water treatment systems, TOGY presented Fountain Quail the Water Management Company of the Year award. Santrol was awarded the Technology Innovation of the Year award for the development of self-suspending proppants allowing for better proppant penetration in horizontally fractured wells. Having closed more than 100 deals in the US between 2010 and 214, totalling just under $1 billion in value, Pickering, Holt & Co. was named Finance Provider of the Year. BG Group and Energy Transfer Partners were handed the LNG Deal of the Year award for their work on the Trunkline LNG Facility in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Placing special emphasis on emerging resource plays, The Oil & Gas Year Eagle Ford Texas Shale 2014 also offered an in-depth look at the economic impact of Eagle Ford shale play activity in years to come, especially as the benefits of exploitation increasingly extent throughout the Texas economy, enabling new infrastructure investment and bringing new business to the logistics and oilfield services sector.

Entitled Back On Its Feet: Colombia’s Second Oil Push, the roundtable event was composed of two sessions, covering the themes of increasing reserves and overcoming challenges. More specifically, much of the discussion centred on how new unconventional and offshore opportunities can help the country’s oil and gas industry get out of its slump. “There has been a very good alignment between services companies and operators to develop heavy-oil technologies and to make sure they are applied in a way that makes sense for the incremental production,” Vargas said.

Another important topic of discussion was how Colombia can continue to attract investment from international oil and gas companies, considering the reforms that have been enacted in Mexico and the opportunities in other Latin American countries. “There is a positive outlook for Colombia. If that was not the case, then there would not be so many international oil companies investing here,” Betancourt commented.

During the lively discussion, participants debated Colombia’s urgent need to increase its modest reserves and maintain its robust production in the face of significant social, regulatory and security challenges.

Participating were:

Javier Betancourt – President, Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos

Luis Giusti – Senior Adviser, Center for Strategic & International Studies (former chairman and CEO of PDVSA)

Humberto Calderón Berti – President, Vetra Energía (former chairman of PDVSA, Minister of Energy of Venezuela and president of <a href='https://theenergyyear.com/companies-institutions/opec/’>OPEC)

Ricardo Sarmiento – Vice President of Asset Delivery and Technical Resources, Talisman Energy Colombia

Mauricio Vargas – President, Schlumberger Colombia

Warren Levy – Director and Founder, Estrella International Energy Services

Jorge Neher – Partner, Norton Rose

AWARDS: Abdul Rahman Jawahery, president of the Gulf Petrochemical Industries Company, was given the Man of the Year award during the ceremony, held at the Al Murjan Room at the Gulf Hotel. Awards were also given to BASF, Petrochemicals Project of the Year; to Bahrain Polytechnic University, Education Institution of the Year; the Bahrain International Investment Park, Industrial Park of the Year; to the Bahrain Petroleum Company, HSBC and BNP Paribas, Financial Advisory of the Year; and to Tatweer Petroleum, Upstream Project of the Year. Key private and public sector players from Bahrain’s oil and gas industry were in attendance.

PARKS, PLANTS AND GAS: The core of this year’s publication saw natural gas usage, industrial activity and upstream development of the Bahrain oilfield feature prominently. Also part of the publication is a roundtable discussion on the implications of energy subsidies for Bahrain’s economic growth, and the policy that could be directed towards conserving precious natural gas resources.

Of the major projects ongoing in Bahrain, the appointment of banking groups HSBC and BNP Paribas as financial advisors to the $4-6-billion Bahrain Petroleum Company refinery upgrade features as the Year’s Focus. The publication also examines a steam injection programme, which was upgraded from the pilot stage by Tatweer, a consortium between US-based Occidental Petroleum, the UAE’s Mubadala Petroleum and the Bahraini government. Additional recognition was given to BASF for beginning production at its antioxidant blend plant, to Bahrain Polytechnic for graduating its first class of students and to Bahrain International Investment Park for seeing four energy-related companies commission plants in the past 12 months.

CEO of The Oil & Gas Year, Guillaume Doane, said: “The scale of upstream activity and industrial development taking place is unprecedented by Bahraini standards. The kingdom is on the doorstep of making critical choices that will address acute resource shortages and sustain long-term energy development.”

The discussion covered Oman’s record in applying new technologies, the importance of efficiency gains to improving performance, the impact of the government’s in-country value strategy on companies’ capabilities to take on new best practice concepts and the need to formulate an integrated approach to make sure that technology and industry best practice are transferred efficiently through Oman’s major oil and gas megaprojects.

Participating in the event were Undersecretary at the Ministry of Oil and Gas Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Gulf Energy CCO Yasser Al Baraimi, BP Oman general manager Dave Campbell, Modus Oman Drilling Systems CEO Mohammed Ahmed Al Jahwari, Sarooj Construction director Simon Karam, Oman Oil head of international mergers and acquisitions Anwar Al Kharusi, OPAL CEO Irshad Moosa Al Lawati, The Research Council director of innovation Abdullah Mohammed Al Mahruki, Mott MacDonald director Ahmed J. Al Mazrui, Petroleum Development Oman managing director Raoul Restucci and VEC Oil and Gas Consultants managing director Sayyid Mohammed Ali Al Said.

The Oil & Gas Year hosted its first strategic roundtable discussion for Angola’s oil and gas industry in partnership with the country’s national oil company and concessionaire, Sonangol in May 2014.

The event – From the ground up: the building blocks of Angola’s oil and gas boom – was sponsored by Total E&P Angola and Weatherford International.

Panelists had the opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities of human resources capacity development and in-country fabrication for Angola’s oil and industry. With representatives from upstream operators, oilfield services companies, fabrication yards, and the country’s national oil company, the event served as a platform for discussion on two of the most relevant topics to Angola.

Participating in the event were Sonamet general manager José Alexandre Barroso, Paenal QA manager Jorge Filipe, Sonangol E&P administrator Paulino Jeronimo, Total E&P Angola director general Jean-Michel Lavergne, Petromar general manager Antonio Bravo Neto, PricewaterhouseCoopers assurance partner Sarju Raikundalia, Ensco country manager Fabio Teixeira, Cobalt International Energy deputy general manager António Vieira and Schlumberger Angola chairman David Viela.

The book features interviews with Ramnarine, Minister of Finance and the Economy Larry Howai, BP Trinidad and Tobago president Norman Christie, and Energy Chamber CEO Thackwray Driver.

Norman Christie was chosen for The Oil & Gas Year’s Trinidad and Tobago 2014 Man of the Year award for his outspoken emphasis on improved fiscal measures for oil and gas operators in the country.

Discussion centred on the first pre-salt bid round that saw the auction of the Libra field. The event brought together Oswaldo Pedrosa president of Pré-Sal Petróleo, Shell Brazil chairman André Araújo, Schlumberger Brazil country manager José Firmino, Aker Solutions Brazil president and executive vice-president Luís Araújo and Total Brazil geoscience director Gerard Pelé.

The Oil & Gas Year Brazil 2014 country director João Marques and EY Brazil energy leader Carlos Alberto Assis moderated the roundtable.

The discussion, entitled “Brazil: The first pre-salt round – Technology, Local Content, Sustainability and Competition: The Future of Brazil’s Hydrocarbons Industry”, covered several subjects, including the short- and medium-term challenges to respond to the sector’s local content demands, the responsibility of the recently created Pré-Sal Petróleo within the Libra consortium and in future unitizations of pre-salt fields within the new PSC model, the particular technical difficulties and technological demands of the Libra field and the pre-salt opportunities at large, or even, the applicability of the new legal framework to future pre-salt auctions.