Each year since 2004, the editors of Oil and Gas Investor have recognized outstanding individuals and companies whose actions have significantly impacted shareholders, the communities where they drill, or indeed, the entire industry. Nominations Eare submitted by our readers.

We are pleased to welcome BDO as the awards sponsor as we announce the winners for 2014. More detailed articles about each will appear in the May issue and subsequent issues. All the winners were honored at our 8th annual Energy Capital Conference, held in Austin on April 7.

They made their achievements in 2014, a year of contrasts between great successes and rapid adjustments, when crude oil prices tanked while U.S. production continued to soar. The horizontal push in the Permian Basin came to the fore and in Ohio, the Utica Shale created more buzz as some of the biggest onshore gas wells were announced. Talk grew of exporting crude oil and condensate, even as the petrochemical and manufacturing industries took notice of America’s surplus of natural gas supply. And in all basins, the midstream infrastructure build-out became more important than ever before.

—The Editors

We are pleased to recognize as Executive of the Year, the chairman of Noble Energy Inc., Charles (Chuck) Davidson. Under his leadership, the Houston company has grown significantly through balance and diversity, by operating U.S. oil and gas assets (the Niobrara and Marcellus shales), and international deepwater exploration—the multi-Tcf Tamar and Leviathan fields offshore Israel, and other large fields offshore West Africa. Next up is wildcatting in the Falkland Islands, and possibly in Nevada.

Noble has also been a proactive advocate for the industry. It co-founded America’s Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA), which has mounted an extensive national PR campaign promoting natural gas for several years, and more recently, it co-founded Coloradans for Responsible Energy Development (CRED). This group successfully partnered with the governor, industry and communities to educate the public and stave off a threatened ballot initiative to ban fracking in the state.

Best Discovery goes to Continental Resources for announcing in September its Springer Shale oil play in the Scoop area of southcentral Oklahoma. Some 11 wells have been completed with average estimated EURs of 940,000 boe (68% oil). Decline rates are said to be less than in other shale plays, and returns compare favorably to the Bakken, Continental said. It has 188 net operated locations and five rigs running as it develops the new play and tries extended laterals.

The M&A Deal of the Year is awarded to Whiting Petroleum Corp. for its all-stock acquisition of Kodiak Oil & Gas for $6 billion, which was announced in July before the oil price plunge, but nevertheless, successfully closed in December.With this structure the buyer and selling shareholders share the pain—or gain—going forward. This transaction united Whiting’s financial and technical strengths with Kodiak assets that had been under­capitalized, and Whiting now becomes the top producer in the Bakken, up from third place. The deal increased its net drilling locations by 158% to 3,460, and moreover, the deal expanded its footprint in the sweet spot in the center of the basin. WLL now has nearly 812,000 net acres there and an estimated five to six years of drilling inventory in the Bakken and Three Forks formations.

Our annual Financing of the Year award goes to Eclipse Resources, a fast-growing Utica producer that went public in July 2014. The last week of December, when crude oil prices were falling by the day and during the holiday period, the company executed a $440 million private placement of equity that will help it maintain rapid growth, with pro-forma liquidity raised to $605 million, according to management, albeit with inherent dilution. The equity raise was the first of what subsequently has become a series of offerings anchored by foundation investors, in this case EnCap Investments, as well as key institutional shareholders.

The Best Field Rejuvenation award goes to Shell Oil Co. for its world-class, deepwater Mars B Field in the Mississippi Canyon area. There, it installed a second tension leg platform, Olympus, and first oil flowed through it in February 2014. This is the first time that two TLPs have been installed in one Gulf of Mexico field. The Olympus TLP enables Shell to steadily increase production at Mars and extend the life of the field from an original date of 2035, to 2050. Since coming online in 1996, the field has produced more than 770 MMboe, outperforming initial expectations. The second TLP, larger than the first, will enable production to reach 1 Bboe and more.

ConocoPhillips is our Corporate Citizen of the Year for its many community and sustainability programs in public health, education, science, the environment and the arts, in the U.S., Canada, Russia, Qatar and elsewhere in the world. In the U.S., it donates $500 for every 20 hours an employee or retiree volunteers with an eligible 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It supports Yellowstone National Park, United Way, the American Heart Association, protection of habitats for migratory birds, and much more. It has reached 600,000 students through its energy education workshops for teachers.

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