ORGANISERS of the Meed quality awards for projects have invited submissions for the 2013 quality awards and said projects between January 2011 and December 2012 are eligible to compete.

The awards are for Mashreq Oil & Gas Project of the Year, Industrial Project of the Year, Power and Water Desalination Project of the Year, Water Reuse Project of the Year, Leisure and Tourism Project of the Year, Transport Project of the Year, Social Project of the Year, Building Project of the Year, Sustainable Project of the Year and Small Project of the Year.

Deadline for submission of projects was given as January 31 and winners will be announced in May.

The Gulf region’s increasing focus on offshore oil and gas projects is attracting renewed interest from major global contractors as well as new entrants to the market, said a statement issued in connection with the Meed awards.

“Outputs from oil and gas projects in the Gulf contribute significantly to the GDPs of countries in the GCC region. This new focus on offshore production should be a boost to the continuing economic development of the region,” said Julio Armando De Quesada, head of corporate and investment banking group Mashreq, which has signed up as the Official Financier of the Meed Quality Awards for Projects 2013 in association with Ernst & Young.  It is also a sponsor for the Mashreq Oil & Gas Project of the Year award.

In a recent report, Meed Projects revealed that oil producers are now actively turning offshore in search of oil and gas.

According to the report’s count, citing data from the US’ Baker Hughes, there are currently 45 offshore rig projects, eight more than the same period in 2011 and over previous peak of 43 recorded in 2008.

“With advances in technology bringing efficiencies up and costs of exploration down, we can expect quality standards for projects to be raised even higher,” said Becky Crayman, head of awards, Meed Quality Awards for Projects 2013, in association with Ernst & Young, an independent award recognition programme that recognises project excellence in oil and gas projects, as well as all other industry sectors.

Last year, Qatar Petroleum and Qatar Shell’s Pearl GTL joint venture project won the highly coveted Meed Quality Project of the Year Award, in association with Ernst & Young as well as the Oil and Gas Project of the Year honours.