01 July, 2009

Russia Team Wins Barrel Award

Nebraska, Newfoundland teams place

 

Graduate students representing Moscow (Russia) State University claimed the top prize as winners of this year’s Imperial Barrel Awards program, beating out in the finals nine other teams from geology and geophysical departments from around the world.

The thrill of victory: Members of the Moscow State University IBA team enjoy the spotlight as 2009 champions.

The thrill of victory: Members of the Moscow State University IBA team enjoy the spotlight as 2009 champions.
The thrill of victory: Members of the Moscow State University IBA team enjoy the spotlight as 2009 champions.

Graduate students representing Moscow (Russia) State University claimed the top prize as winners of this year’s Imperial Barrel Awards program, beating out in the finals nine other teams from geology and geophysical departments from around the world.

The competition was held in Denver, two days before the start of the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition.

AAPG’s IBA program is an annual prospect/exploration evaluation competition among university student teams that use real data to develop and sell fictional prospects, with the top team winning $20,000 for their petroleum geoscience department.

The Moscow State student team was representing AAPG’s European Region, having won the right to compete in Denver at its regional contest earlier this year in Prague, Czech Republic.

Members of the IBA winning team are Dmitry Kalmykov, Maria Oleshko, Natalia Popova, Darya Norina and Bayrta Byurchieva. Their faculty adviser is Elena Poludetkina.

Finishing second (Selley Cup winners) was the team from the University of Nebraska, representing the Mid-Continent Section, which earned individual medals and $10,000 in scholarship funds for the department.

Finishing third (Stoneley Medal winners) was Memorial University(Newfoundland), representing the Canada Region, which earned individual medals and $5,000 in scholarship funds for their department.

The remaining seven finalists (see accompanying box) each earned $1,000 in scholarship funds for their respective schools plus individual medals for themselves as IBA finals participants.

The IBA program is designed to allow teams of students the chance to evaluate the petroleum potential of a sedimentary basin and to test their creative geological interpretations. Their work must be completed in a six-to-eight week period, with results presented to – and judged by – an independent panel of petroleum industry experts.

A total of 87 teams from 23 countries received competition datasets. Last year’s IBA attracted 37 schools from 12 countries, and seven universities competed in the inaugural year, 2007.

Winners were announced at the AAPG Student Reception in Denver. Other student honors and awards announced that night included:

Student Poster Awards

(Sponsored by Shell Oil)

  • First place – Matt Corbett, University of Nebraska (and a member of the IBA team); $2,000 to him, $1,000 to his department.
  • Second place – Brian Blackstone, the University of Nebraska (also on the IBA team); $1,500 to him, $750 to his department.
  • Third place – Hilary Strong, the University of Texas at Austin, Jackson School of Geosciences; $1,000 for her, $500 to her department.
  • Fourth place – Oliver Duffy, the University of Manchester; $500 to him, $250 to his department.

Student paper award winners will be announced in the August EXPLORER.

Jim Hartman Service to Students Award
  • Bill Hottman, Fugro Seismic Imaging, Katy, Texas.
  • Sue Waters, Shell E&P, New Orleans.
Outstanding Student Chapters

(Sponsored by Schlumberger)

  • Southern Methodist University.
  • The University of Bucharest.

Chapters receiving honorable mention were San Diego State University, Colorado School of Mines, Institute of Technology Sepuluh Nopember and Gadjah Mada University.