ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics takes Top Global Honor
(l-r: Roderick Perez, Elizabeth Baruch, Carlos Russian, Dr. Roger Slatt, Romina Portas, and Carlos Santacruz)
At the recent 2008 AAPG Annual Convention in San Antonio, Texas a team of five graduate students, representing the ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics at OU, won First Place in the 2nd Annual AAPG Imperial Barrel Award program. This program was initiated two years ago to encourage students from universities throughout the world to compete in a petroleum exploration program similar to that which they will experience when working in a petroleum company. To compete, university teams receive a complete data set from an area (decided by AAPG), including seismic and well logs, and within a 6-8 week period are required to analyze the data, develop a portfolio of exploration drilling prospects, and present their findings in a formal presentation judged by industry exploration experts. Our winning team was composed of Elizabeth Baruch, Roderick Perez, Romina Portas, Carlos Russian, and Carlos Santacruz. The students are all first year M.S. students in the School and none have yet had company internship experience!! Their study area was Australia's Cooper and Eromonga Basins.
There were 34 university teams entered in this year's competition, including those from several U.S. states, Austria, Canada, France, Russia, Scotland, England, Indonesia, and NIgeria. The competition consisted of an initial round of 'regional' competitions', with the OU students winning the "Mid-Continent Region' award (and a $2,500 check). The team traveled to San Antonio with eleven other regional winners to participate in the semi-finals, which pitted two groups of six teams competing for the chance to participate in the finals presentation the following day. Again, our team placed sufficiently well within the semi-finals to participate in the finals, along with five other semi-finalist teams. The OU team's final presentation awarded them with First Place. As Advisor Dr. Slatt said, "the team was absolutely flawless in their science, application, and presentation, which included a statistical analysis and ranking of 7 drilling prospects they developed on the basis of sound geologic concepts". In addition to the prestige associated with a 'best in the world' status, the team brought back to the School a $20,000 check and trophy that will adorn the main office for many years. The money is going into the coffers of the AAPG and SEG Student Chapters for support of their activities.
The inaugural year of the competition was held at the 2007 Annual AAPG Convention in Long Beach, California. The OU team placed third in that competition, behind the University of Aberdeen and Imperial College (London), both of which also participated in this year's competition. The ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics looks forward to stiff competition in future years as word of this excellent AAPG program spreads both nationally and internationally.
April 2008
Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy
100 East Boyd Street Room 510
Norman, Oklahoma 73019
(405) 325-3821
e:mail: mcee@ou.edu
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