Randy Gossen, Nexen’s vice president for Safety, Environment and Social Responsibility, has been elected President of the World Petroleum Council (WPC) at its global congress, currently underway in Johannesburg, South Africa. Dr. Gossen will assume the presidency at the conclusion of the current congress, and will serve a three-year term until the next congress in Madrid in 2008.

Dr. Gossen said the role offers an opportunity to work to improve the oil industry’s reputation and to encourage dialogue between the industry and essential partners such as governments, non-governmental organizations and international organizations.

“As an industry, we have to find ways of producing oil in an economically viable, environmentally acceptable and socially responsible way,” said Randy. “The big issue is around our reputation and credibility. The WPC can’t solve the world’s problems, but it can facilitate and catalyze dialogue between the industry and its various stakeholders.”

Nexen was also honoured by the WPC with an Excellence Award in Social Responsibility in the small company category. (Statoil of Norway won in the large company category.) Nexen was recognized for its submission “Building Trust in Zones of Conflict” which outlined how the company has developed strong, interactive and sustainable community relationships in Colombia. Accepting the award on behalf of Nexen was John McWilliams, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary, and Jim Shaw, manager, Community Affairs.

The World Petroleum Council was founded in London in 1933. It provides a forum for discussing issues facing the oil industry on a worldwide basis and is strictly non-political. The WPC is dedicated to the application of scientific advances in the oil and gas industries, to technology transfer and to the use of the world's petroleum resources for the benefit of mankind. The WPC's 62 member countries represent over 90 per cent of the world’s major oil and gas producing and consuming nations.

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