AOGA Announces 2024 Industry Award Winners

Lifetime Achievement

The Marilyn Crockett Lifetime Achievement Award this year goes to Lisa Pekich, a thirty-three-year ConocoPhillips Alaska employee.

Pekich earned her engineering degree from California Polytechnic State University and launched her early career with ARCO Alaska. Her technical expertise and interpersonal skills led her to senior roles in environmental coordination, strategy, and commercial analysis. Since 2011, Pekich has directed ConocoPhillips Alaska’s community relations and village outreach team, transforming it into a model of effective community engagement. Her leadership in the Willow project and commitment to community responsiveness highlight her impact. Pekich also serves on the Iḷisaġvik College Foundation board, advocating for tribal education and workforce development.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is named in honor of the former AOGA executive director Marilyn Crockett, who dedicated her forty-one-year career to, as she stated, “growing Alaska’s economy through a vibrant oil and gas sector in the state.” The award honors the dedication Crockett displayed during her career: exceptional devotion of time, effort, thought, and action consistently shown in his/her work for the betterment of the oil and gas industry in Alaska.

Project of the Year

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company wins the AOGA Project of the Year for Environmental Stewardship and Innovation, a three-peat for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System operator. The company also won the award in 2022 and 2023.

Sponsored by Stoel Rives, the award honors an Alaska oil and gas industry project that demonstrates superior environmental stewardship in its area of design, construction or operation and/or an innovative approach that sets a new standard for industry design, construction or operation in Alaska.

According to the company, Alyeska is evolving its operations to meet the changing needs of Alaska’s oil industry with a long-term “TAPS 100” philosophy. Currently transporting about 175 million barrels of oil per year, Alyeska anticipates an increase in throughput in the coming years. This shift has necessitated operational changes, including the reduced use of pump stations. Alyeska has implemented an Asset Retirement Obligations program to clean and remove facilities, completing decommissioning at Pump Stations 10 and 12, with work in progress at Pump Stations 2 and 8. Alyeska is committed to reducing TAPS’ footprint by isolating and removing five inactive pump stations by 2034, and it has provided conceptual plans for legacy equipment removal at Pump Stations 1, 3, 4, and 9.

Rising Star

Julianne Lamb, a geologist with Santos Alaska, received the Rising Star Award, which honors a young professional oil and gas industry employee under the age of 35 who has made an immediate and definitive impact on the oil and gas industry in Alaska.

Originally from Texas, Lamb transitioned from studying engineering to geology, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geological sciences from the University of Texas in 2011. Her early career in Houston and subsequent master’s degree from the University of Houston in 2014 set the stage for her eventual move to Alaska, with a stop in Australia. Moving to Sydney in 2016, Julianne honed her skills in basin modeling.

After moving to Alaska in 2020, Lamb led the charge to bring “GeoIsotopes” to Santos Alaska in 2023. This technology provides unique insights into reservoir characteristics and seal integrity through a deep understanding of source rocks and migration pathways. Now a key figure in Alaska’s carbon capture and storage industry, Julianne’s work ensures safe, long-term CO2 storage.

A committee of industry experts, both active and retired, reviewed the 2024 AOGA Industry Award submissions. The awards will be presented at the 2024 AOGA conference, scheduled for August 28 and 29 at the Dena’ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage.