Every year, the Oil and Gas Investor honors the companies, deals and individuals who excelled in the North American energy industry for the prior year.

Honorees for 2014 OGI Excellence Awards will be acknowledged April 6th at Hart’s Energy Capital Conference in Austin. The event draws hundreds of executives from E&P companies, midstream operators, financial institutions and private-equity firms.

Best Discovery: Harold Hamm Harold Hamm, chairman and CEO of Continental Resources, will be honored for the year's Best Discovery for development of the Springer Shale oil play in south-central Oklahoma. Results released in September indicate that the play will yield top-notch initial output rates and economic returns.

More on Continental: Harold Hamm Gains More Bakken Acreage

M&A Deal of the Year Jim Volker, chairman, CEO and president of Whiting PetroleumCorp., wins the award for M&A Deal of the Year for purchasing Kodiak Oil & Gas in a $6 billion all-stock deal. This deal  propelled Whiting to the top-tier position in the Bakken Shale in North Dakota.

Read more: Whiting Petroleum Acquires Kodiak Oil & Gas - $3.8 Billion

Excellence Award Recipients:

• Executive of the Year: Chuck Davidson, Noble Energy executive chairman
• Financing of the Year: Eclipse Resources Corp.
• Best Field Rejuvenation: Shell Oil Co.
• Corporate Citizen of the Year: ConocoPhillips

Fore more go to oilandgasinvestor.com