ARC Energy Ltd managing director Eric Streitberg has been awarded the gas industry’s highest award, the Reg Sprigg Medal for outstanding service to the industry. Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chairman Colin Beckett highlighted Mr Streitberg’s long-standing commitment to conservation and engagement with traditional owners. “Mr Streitberg is a figure of great stature in our industry, both figuratively and literally, and he is truly an example of how one person can energise and lead positive change,” Mr Beckett said. Mr Streitberg has 36 years’ experience in the industry, having been involved in exploration in areas as diverse as Canada, Bolivia, Libya, Papua New Guinea and more recently in the Perth and Canning Basins of WA. “He has built companies that have outwardly expressed in their actions and activities, some of his own core values of respecting and valuing the people around him,” Mr Beckett said. Mr Streiberg is also chairman of the Western Australian Marine Parks and Reserves Authority, which has introduced a system of marine reserves that have adhered to the multiple use principle but have also taken major steps to ensuring we have a marine environment we and future generations can enjoy in a sustainable way.