The International Association of Oil & Gas Producers (IOGP) has presented the 2020 Outstanding Young Professional Award (OYPA) to David Ochanda, Biodiversity Coordinator with Total, Uganda.
The award recognises his endeavours in raising awareness of biodiversity and ecological standards when exploring and producing oil and gas in highly sensitive areas.
“David’s commitment is a prime example of leadership, innovation and impact. His work takes our industry’s environmental awareness to the next level. It’s a well-deserved win” said Fawaz Bitar, IOGP Chair, at the opening ceremony of the virtual SPE HSES conference.
“I am earnestly grateful and profoundly honoured for receiving such an important award, the IOGP OYPA 2020. This demonstrates the remarkable inspiration, empowerment and respect I have always received from my seniors and colleagues, not forgetting the great teamwork. The award gives me more strength to challenge myself and perform even better,” David responded in his acceptance speech.
This year’s announcement of the OYPA winner was planned to take place in March at the SPE HSES conference in Bogota, Colombia, but, due to the Covid-19 constraints was delayed in line with the postponement of the conference.
IOGP received submissions from over 20 organisations from around the globe. The Awards Committee, consisting of executives from the world’s leading upstream and contractor companies, categorised the nominees based on their leadership, innovation and impact and shortlisted 7 finalists.
Given the high calibre of submissions, IOGP decided to choose three runners up. And these were Saul Moorhouse, BP, Delina Lyon, Shell, and Xeniya Yurkavets, Kazmunaigas.
“Witnessing these outstanding initiatives makes me incredibly proud of our young colleagues and I believe the future of our industry could not be in better hands. These are exactly the kind of inspiring people we need,” said Fawaz Bitar.
