The AAPG Latin America & Caribbean Region Imperial Barrel Award (IBA) has kept geoscience students very busy during the last eight weeks.

This year’s Region competition is the largest ever, with 20 teams from eight countries participating.

The competition involved two phases, a virtual round held on April 1 and the in-person Region Semifinal Competition held on April 29.

Teams competing in 2016 include:

• Universidad de Buenos Aires; Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Universidad Nacional de La Plata; La Plata, Argentina
• Universidade Federal Fluminense; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Universidad Federal Sergipe; Aracaju, Brazil
• Universidad Federal Rio Grande do Sul; Porto Alegre, Brazil
• Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Peru
• Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería; Lima, Peru
• Universidad Nacional San Antonio de Abad de Cusco; Cusco, Peru
• Universidad Nacional de San Agustín, Arequipa Peru
• Universidad EAFIT; Medellin, Colombia
• Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Bogota, Colombia
• Universidad de los Andes; Bogota, Colombia
• Universidad Industrial de Santander; Bucaramanga, Colombia
• Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia; Sogomoso, Colombia
• Escuela Superior Politecnica del Litoral (ESPOL); Guayaquil, Ecuador
• Universidad Central de Ecuador; Quito, Ecuador
• Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; Mexico City, Mexico
• University of the West Indies – St. Augustine; St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago
• Universidad Central de Venezuela; Caracas, Venezuela
• Universidad de Simón Bolívar; Caracas, Venezuela

All universities participated in the April 1 virtual round, which included two groups of 10 teams each.

Each team delivered a 25-minute presentation followed by 10 minutes allotted for questions and answers. Judges viewed all 10 presentations their group and selected the top teams to advance to the region semi-finals.

Judged included the following:

• David Tilghman, Shell
• Rion Cameron, Chevron
• Sarah Power, Schlumberger
• John Londoño, Ecopetrol
• Thomas Johnston, Noble Energy
• Flavio Feijó, AAPG DPA

Ranking the universities was difficult task, but after very careful study and deliberation, judges selected the following top finishers for each group:

Group A:

1. Universidad de Simón Bolívar (USB); Caracas, Venezuela
2. Universidad Industrial de Santander (UIS); Bucaramanga, Colombia

Group B:

1. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM); Lima, Peru
2. Universidad Nacional de San Agustín (UNSA); Arequipa Peru

The four teams will advance to the Region Semifinals, which will be held at Ecopetrol, S.A. in Bogotá on April 29.

The AAPG Latin America and Caribbean Region thanks all the students and faculty advisors who worked diligently during eight weeks to prepare for the competition and to the six judges who shared their time and expertise with the students.

Thanks also to Chevron, Shell and Schlumberger for sponsoring the Region competition and to Ecopetrol hosting the Semifinal competition in Bogotá.

Best wishes to the USB, UIS, UNSM and UNSA as they prepare for the next round!