A team of five UL Lafayette graduate students who are studying geology got to test their oil prospecting skills this spring.
The group, led by Josh Reamer, competed in the American Association Petroleum Geologists Gulf Coast Region’s Imperial Barrel Contest.
Teams were given data sets that included well logs, 2-D and 3-D seismic data, core information and geochemical data from an area of the world where oil and gas are produced. They then had eight weeks to analyze that information and make recommendations such as “drill here” or “don’t invest further.”
“ We worked 10 hours a day to analyze the data and come up with recommendations,” said Reamer. “It was as much work as preparing for a thesis.”
Teams had to go before a panel of judges and make presentations on their findings and answer any questions. UL Lafayette defeated teams from the University of Houston, LSU, Stephen F. Austin, UT Texas and Texas A&M to take first place in the Gulf Coast Region.
AAPG’s Imperial Barrel Award program is an annual competition in which graduate student teams analyze a basin data set. Students gain experience using real technology on a real data set and benefit from feedback from an industry panel.
Because they placed first, UL Lafayette’s team competed in the international competition last month in New Orleans. According to Reamer, no teams from the United States placed in the competition.
Team members from UL Lafayette include Reamer, Ling Jing, Ryan Armbruster, Javier De Palacios and Lauren Salathe. Faculty advisor was Dr. Brian Lock.