NEW YORK, December 4 /PRNewswire/ --

- PTT's Bunsumpun and GDF Suez' Mestrallet Receive CEO of the Year Honors

International energy giant Royal Dutch Shell, the Netherlands-based oil company, grabbed the esteemed award for Energy Company of the Year tonight at the 10th annual Platts Global Energy Awards.

In addition, for the first time ever, Platts' independent panel of judges chose two industry leaders as CEOs of the Year: Prasert Bunsumpun of Thailand's PTT, and Gerard Mestrallet, head of France's GDF Suez.

Congratulations to Royal Dutch Shell for receiving both Energy Company of the Year and the 2008 Industry Leadership awards, said Platts President Victoria Chu Pao. Royal Dutch Shell is a fitting winner of Platts' top honors in the Awards' tenth anniversary year - an example of the strategic, forward-looking, and socially responsible business model that the awards were created to recognize.

Shell, often called a model of management excellence, has 104,000 employees in 110 countries. Known for its prowess in long-range planning, Shell has been reported to be exploring the possibility of becoming the first oil company to return to Iraq with a large-scale local operation. The company has invested billions of dollars since 1990 in a program to cut emissions in greenhouse gases, and is only one of four oil and gas companies in the 2008 Carbon Disclosure Project Leadership Index, which recognizes the most comprehensive and transparent climate change and carbon emissions disclosure practices.

I would like to congratulate, for CEO of the Year, not one, but two winners, said Pao. Prasert Bunsumpun and Gerard Mestrallet are trailblazers, each in his own right, transforming not only his own company, but also helping to transform an entire industry. Platts is pleased to honor the two of them in this important category.

Bunsumpun has turned a small state-run oil company into a global energy major that ranks 135 in the Fortune 500. His PTT Group comprises 45 companies and contributes 16 percent of Thailand's overall gross domestic product. Bunsumpun is recognized by employees and energy industry leadership as an approachable communicator and global visionary.

Mestrallet was architect of the July 2008 merger of Gaz de France and Suez, the combined enterprise becoming France's third largest publicly-listed company. Under his decade-long watch, the company's revenue has nearly trebled. The company is also positioned to move into the Top 20 rankings of the Platts Top 250 Global Energy Companies. Mestrallet has long been a vocal advocate of public-private partnership initiatives to solve the developing world's water access problems.

Winners were also announced tonight for three new or updated awards categories. Strategic Energy Investment of the Year award was bestowed to US's Peabody for its metamorphosis from a domestic coal producer to global coal powerhouse, as well as its on-going efforts to commercialize near-zero emissions technologies. Sustainable Technology Innovation of the Year award was snared by US's Orion Energy Systems for its efficiency solution which has the capacity to cut power consumption for lighting by as much as 80%. And, Sustainable Energy Initiative of the Year honors were won by US's Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (the largest private consumer of electricity in the US) for its efficiency plan designed to cut energy use by 25% in the short term, derive 100% of its electricity supply from renewable energy, and cut greenhouse gases by 20%.

Platts, a leading global energy information service, is a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP). Its annual awards showcase extraordinary accomplishments by energy businesses and individuals worldwide. Finalists and winners are determined by an independent international panel of judges.

Nearly 500 top executives from more than a dozen countries gathered in New York City for the gala event tonight at New York's Cipriani Wall Street.

The evening dinner and ceremony was preceded by the second annual Platts Lecture, during which industry leaders, market analysts, and academic scholars held a wide-ranging discussion on Sense and Sustainability: What Strategies Will Really Work to Create a New Energy Future? NRG Energy President and CEO David Crane joined Dr. Madeleine Albright, principal of The Albright Group LLC, Chair and principal of Albright Capital Management LLC and former U.S. Secretary of State as key speaker. NRG Energy was the Platts Global Energy Awards' Energy Company of the Year in 2007. The Platts Lecture series aspires to raise the level of global energy industry debate, creating the definitive forum for the examination of serious long-term issues facing the world's energy businesses and policy-makers.

Capgemini was the principal sponsor of the Platts Global Energy Awards for the sixth consecutive year. The event was co-sponsored by Spectra Energy, for its second year, and Platts welcomed Elster Electricity, Duff and Phelps, Microsoft and Solarc as co sponsors for 2008.

The Global Energy Awards recognize excellence and innovation by companies and executives in more than a dozen sectors within the global energy industry. Platts received nearly 200 nominations from energy companies in more than 22 countries.

The winners in each awards category are:

Commercial Technology of the Year: CoaLogix Community Development Program of the Year: Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas) Downstream Business of the Year: MOL Nyrt Energy Transporter of the Year: MidAmerican Energy Pipeline Group Engineering Project of the Year: Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Enterprise Products Partners L.P. ENR Energy Construction Project of the Year: Northeast Utilities Hydrocarbon Producer of the Year: Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.--Petrobas Industry Leadership Award: Royal Dutch Shell Lifetime Achievement Award: Edison International Marketing Campaign of the Year: UNION FENOSA Power Company of the Year CEZ, a.s. Rising Star Award EMFESZ First Hungarian Natural Gas and Energy Trading and Service LLC Strategic Energy Investment of the Year Peabody Energy Sustainable Energy Initiative of the Year Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Sustainable Technology Innovation of the Year Orion Energy Systems

Next year's Platts Global Energy Awards Gala and events will be held December 2, 2009 in New York City.

About Platts:

Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is a leading global provider of energy and commodities information. With nearly a century of business experience, Platts serves customers across more than 150 countries. From 17 offices worldwide, Platts serves the oil, natural gas, electricity, nuclear power, coal, emissions, petrochemical, shipping and metals markets. Platts' real time news, pricing, analytical services, and conferences help markets operate with transparency and efficiency. Traders, risk managers, analysts, and industry leaders depend upon Platts to help them make better trading and investment decisions. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

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