The 2018 AAPG Latin America and Caribbean Region (LACR) Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) competition set a record this year, with 24 universities from nine countries participating.

IBA is an international competition in which groups of five students analyze geological, seismic and petrophysical data provided by the AAPG and corporate sponsors. Students spend eight weeks developing exploration prospects and then present them to a panel of industry experts. Each year, semifinal winners represent the region in the global competition held prior to the AAPG Conference and Exhibition (ACE) in the United States.

The 2018 competition took place in two phases, the virtual round held via WebEx and the in-person semifinals held in Bogotá, Colombia.

The following teams participated in the virtual round on March 9:

• Argentina:
  • University of Buenos Aires (UBA)
• Brazil:
  • Federal University of Pampa (UNIPAMPA)
  • State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ)
  • Vale do Rio dos Sinos University (UNISINOS)
  • Federal University of Pernambuco (UFP)
  • Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
  • Fluminense Federal University (UFF)
  • Federal University of Sergipe (UFS)
• Colombia:
  • Industrial University of Santander (UIS)
  • National University of Colombia, Bogotá (UNAL-BOG)
  • Pamplona University
  • University of the Andes (UNIANDES)
  • Pedagogical and Technological University of Colombia (UPTC)
• Ecuador:
  • Superior Polytechnic School of the East (ESPOL)
• México:
  • National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM)
  • National Polytechnic Institute (IPN)
• Peru:
  • National Major University of San Marcos (UNMSM)
  • National University of San Antonio Abad del Cusco (UNSAAC)
  • Jorge Basadre Grohmann National University (UNJBG)
  • National University of San Agustin (UNSA)
  • National University of Engineering (UNI)
• Suriname:
  • Anton de Kom University of Suriname
• Trinidad and Tobago:
  • University of the West Indies (UWI)
• Venezuela:
  • Simon Bolivar University (USB)
  • Central University of Venezuela (UCV)

Virtual round judges included Joannah Skudder (Shell), Diego Gracioso (Shell), Gabriel Grimaldi (Chevron), Ignacio Iregui (Cepsa), Carlos Fracalossi (Petrobras), Sebastian Arismendi (YPF), Iván Olaya (Mansarovar) and Mauricio Blanco (ANH Colombia).

Simón Bolívar University, the Federal University of Sergipe, the University of Buenos Aires and the National University of Colombia finished first in their respective groups and advanced to the semifinal round held at Ecopetrol in Bogotá on April 6.

Teams delivered presentations for a panel of judges, Andrés Mora (Ecopetrol), Claudia González (Shell), Elvira Gómez (Nexen CNOOC) and Alwin Gómez (Colombian Geological Survey.)

After the competition students visited Ecopetrol’s Exploratory Decision Center (CEDEX) room and heard talks from Ecopetrol managers and geoscientists working in offshore and onshore basins.

The semifinals concluded with a reception and awards ceremony announcing the first and second place winners, the University of Buenos Aires and the National University of Colombia, respectively.

The University of Buenos Aires team will receive a $1000 prize and will advance to the Global IBA Competition in Salt Lake City, Utah on 19 May 2018.

The AAPG Latin America and Caribbean thanks our 24 teams, students and advisors, for all their hard work and dedication these past three months weeks.

We also thank sponsors Chevron, Shell, Schlumberger and Ecopetrol for making this valuable experience possible.

We are very proud of our region’s young leaders and grateful for those who support their professional and personal development.