Bapco has won the annual Emirates Energy Award for Public Corporation, for its outstanding performance in organising, developing and implementing effective corporate energy management programmes.

The award ceremony was held at the Raffles Hotel, Dubai.

The annual award, under the patronage of Vice-President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum recognises individuals and organisations which have made significant achievements in the field of energy management, and is an initiative in line with Dubai Strategy 2015, which decrees the sustainable development of the emirate through green standards.

Bapco received the award for the Public Corporation Category for 2009.

General manager refining Ebrahim Talib accepted the prestigious award from Shaikh Majid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum on behalf of acting chief executive Faisal Al Mahroos.

Power and utilities manager Khalid A Latif and oil processing (north) acting manager Hassan Bahram were present at the ceremony, representing their departments which played key role in this achievement.

Other energy award categories were Private Corporation, Major Energy Project, Minor Energy Project, Education and Research and Energy Engineer.

Although energy costs in the region have remained lower than in other industrialised sectors in the world, Bapco recognised the need of implementing systems and programmes that emphasised the need to change the culture of the organisation from one that takes cheap and plentiful energy for granted, to one that is aware of the importance of energy conservation even in an environment of cheap energy supply, to continually identify means and mechanisms of reducing losses through improved practices and procedures.

Many activities and concepts have been launched as part of the programme spearheaded by a multidisciplinary oil loss team, such as a significant focus on flaring reduction, installation of sophisticated measurement devices, a 100-day energy blitz, oil loss shift supervisor champions and extensive training for process unit operators on mass loss control.

'Bapco, as a recipient of this prestigious award, will continue to strive to share its valuable experience with the energy conservation and environmental preservation advocates in the region,' said Al Mahroos.

'Being a responsible corporate citizen, Bapco's continual drive for further reduction in mass loss is a direct result of the corporate policy to keep the environment clean and green.'-TradeArabia News Service