Students search for oil, make deals in PetroChallenge
Jan 18, 2016
More than 380 high school students will study seismic surveys, compete for rigs and negotiate deals during a four-day competition called PetroChallenge at the Energy Institute High School and at Houston Community College Southwest.
PetroChallenge is a series of educational and competitive events held at schools and universities to develop students’ knowledge of the oil and gas industry and their interest in pursuing educational and professional careers in the industry. PetroChallenge is fun, but it also mimics the challenges of life in the oil patch and it is intended to give students a taste of working for an energy company.
It uses Schlumberger’s upstream learning simulator OilSim, which allows teams to collaborate and compete to discover and develop hydrocarbons. Competing schools include Energy Institute High School, Milby High School, Westside High School and the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy in the Houston Independent School District and Southwest High School in Fort Worth.
The event is sponsored by the Independent Petroleum Association of America/Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (IPAA/PESA) Energy Education Center, Occidental Petroleum Corporation, and Schlumberger.
“PetroChallenge provides a unique platform for demonstrating not only the excitement of the oil and natural gas industry, but it also integrates the skills and career information students are learning in the IPAA/PESA high school petroleum academies,” said Barry Russell, President and CEO of IPAA. “This innovative educational competition serves as a powerful tool to stimulate the next generation of talented energy professionals who will drive this industry forward.”
“The PetroChallenge competition is an opportunity to help introduce the next generation of oil and gas leaders to an exceptional team working experience, developing collaborative skills and understanding competition in a simulated ‘real-life setting.' We are proud to be a part of this,” said PESA President Leslie Beyer.
PetroChallenge provides all the challenges, opportunities, and dilemmas that a real exploration team would face. It is during this process that the students gain an effective insight into the risks and challenges of oil and gas exploration, as well as exposure to real oil and gas technical processes and terminology, such as magnetic, gravimetric, and seismic surveys, service providers, the environment, and net present value calculations.
Each student team starts out with a fantasy $200 million budget as it enters a new oil and gas field, competing against other teams to discover viable volumes of oil and gas while minimizing costs and acting in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
“At Occidental Petroleum we strive to be a ‘partner of choice’, and we are proud to sponsor PetroChallenge, which provides academy students who aspire to careers in energy a unique opportunity to experience the challenges of running an oil and gas company,” said Glenn Vangolen, Occidental senior vice president for business support. “The competition is a great program that encourages students to make socially and environmentally responsible business decisions as they apply their academic and technical knowledge to produce energy economically.”
“Schlumberger is excited to continue its involvement and support of the PetroChallenge program organized by NExT. The oil and gas industry is in ever greater need of bright, enthusiastic minds, and this annual competition is an ideal incubator for such talent,” said Jeff Boettiger, Schlumberger North American Industry Affairs Manager.
Due to high student interest, the competition was divided into two parts. Students from Energy Institute High School will participate Jan. 19-20, while those from the other four schools will compete Jan. 21-22.
