March 2016 Archives

Encouraging the Future Oil Industry Leaders at ITE TU Clausthal

The event started at 9 o’clock in the morning with a friendly get-together in the entrance hall of the university. After the registration process the welcome speech was held by Prof. Ganzer who gave a few insights into studying in Clausthal. Then a representative of the German SPE Section introduced the organization and highlighted their achievements in recent years and how they are going to proceed in the years following. After the obligatory coffee-break Dr. Meehan gave a very inspiring and encouraging speech that showed that even during these hard times there is a meaningful way to use your time. The highlights of his speech are summarized in the paragraph below.

Right now in the United States of America fewer rigs are operated then in 1860 when Abraham Lincoln was president. Nevertheless downturns are also opportunities for innovation as the downturn of the oil price in 1980 clearly showed. During that time some of the most beneficial systems in our industry were invented, such as horizontal drilling and LWD. Still as a student you need to find different options to be able to overcome the current downturn as good as possible. There are several academic options to consider. One of them is to think about a victory lap at the university. This means to go for several other courses which can be beneficial in the future work life such as project management or a deeper understanding of the supply chain in the oil and gas industry. Another very important point to consider is to broaden the horizon by going into totally different directions then the oil and gas business. It is never bad to have an MBA but only from a top business university such as the London Business School. Also it is now a good time to think about extending your personal studies with a PhD degree. Besides that it is always good to have entrepreneurial skills. Not only if you want to run your own business but also if you want to get hired by a renowned company. And having an up-to-date LinkedIn profile is more than important in our modern world because CVs are so 2013. Finally the overall conclusion is that something that happens in the past does not determine your future and giving up is never an option.

After that a very delicate lunch was served and then the event continued with a tour through the reservoir and the drilling laboratories of the university. The event was concluded by the student chapter presentations and some final advices from the SPE-President Dr. Meehan. The remaining time of the day was used for a tour through the city of Clausthal-Zellerfeld and Goslar and a delicious dinner at a famous Italian restaurant.

Have a look at our photo gallery:

We would like to thank the SPE-Student Chapter Clausthal for their invitation and their hospitality. Especially we would like to thank Rafael Hincapie for accompanying us during our tour through these beautiful German towns and for driving us back to our hostel. It was a real pleasure to be able to participate in this event and we are looking forward to meet our German friends again at future events.

Leoben Goes Zagreb

The delegation was rather international, including students not only from Austria, but also from Germany, Hungary, Romania, Tunisia, and even the US. In total, the conference had around 300 participants, around 60 of which were from foreign countries.

Day 1 – March 8^th

In small groups, our students arrived in the Croatian capital, leaving the early birds some time for sightseeing while waiting for the late arrivals. In the evening, we were guided to a restaurant and greeted with a great dinner of traditional Croatian cuisine.

Day 2 – March 9^th

The conference was officially opened with speeches of the initiator of the ASEC, former SPE SC Zagreb President Filip Krunić, the current SPE Croatian Section President Dr. Vladislav Brkić and the Dean of the Faculty of Mining, Geology, and Petroleum Engineering, Prof. Zoran Nakić.

The opening ceremony was dominated by appreciating the conference sponsors and supporters, stating that “The moment we stop investing in knowledge, the next generation – in short: in the future – is the moment we stop working as a society!”. Furthermore, the hope for an intensified cooperation and joint projects with the neighboring Student Chapters was expressed. Within the frame of this, also the leader of the Leoben delegation, Oliver Kleinferchner, was honored for his efforts in supporting the logistics of the conference. The musical part of the opening ceremony was covered by five great members of the faculty’s choir, singing traditional Croatian folk songs.

After the opening ceremony, there was an interesting panel discussion about the pros and cons of drilling offshore in the Adriatic Sea. Even though the panel consisted only of petroleum engineers, the discussion was very lively, because some participants were – not entirely expectable – against oil and gas production in the Adriatic Sea; their concern about the negative impact of leakages and spills, not only on the environment, but also on tourism, one of Croatia’s main economic branches, was too big.

Panel discussion on the topic of offshore drilling in the Adriatic – moderator Igor Dekanić, and the participants Davor Štern, Željko Belošić, Pavle Uroda and Zdenko Dvorščak

Technical presentations and insights in the research work of fellow students from all across Europe, as well as the operations of major oil and gas companies followed before and after the lunch break. The official program was then concluded by a workshop on the production analysis program Prosper.

However, the day did not end with this: After some free time, we could use to explore the city, or to simply have a rest, a disco night was organized, lasting until the early morning hours. This gave us plenty of time to get to know our fellow participants and local people.

Day 3 – March 10^th

The presentations of the day were under the sign of environmental aspects of our industry, talking about waste disposal through wells, or geothermal energy. Since the weather was good, some of us decided to skip a promising-sounding afternoon session (dominated by the topics Oil Price and Energy Politics), and do some sightseeing instead.

St. Mark’s church in the heart of the Upper Town (“Gornij grad”) in one of Zagreb’s oldest part

Even though there was no program planned for the evening, a large part of our group gathered to explore a traditional brewery later that day, spending some time on enjoying some alternatives to our beloved “Gösser” beer.

Day 4 – March 11^th

This was not only the day of the technical presentations, but also of the day of our delegation: Four people from Montanuniversitaet Leoben, among them DI Akos Kiss, DDI Dr.mont. Clemens Langbauer, Prof. Holger Ott and Prof. Herbert Hofstätter, giving some interesting insights into their research.

DDI Dr. mont. Clemens Langbauer presenting his research work to the participantts of the 3rd ASEC

After listening to such great and encouraging presentations, the official part of the conference ended with a great closing ceremony, again accompanied by the SPE Student Chapter’s own choir.

The day ended with another disco night in one of Zagreb’s most prolific clubs.

Day 5 – March 12^th

Even though one of the most looked-forward-to event, the paintball game, had to be cancelled due to the unexpectedly bad weather, those of our delegation who chose to stay until Sunday, enjoyed another day in Zagreb, including a great BBQ in the afternoon, also organized by the SPE Student Chapter.

At this point, we would like to thank the organizers of the 3^rd ASEC for their great work and effort and their hospitality throughout the whole week. It was a great pleasure to spend those five days in Zagreb, and we are looking forward to meeting everyone again as soon as possible!

(photo credit to all photos: Christoph Schwarzenegger)

Young Vision Award 2016

Health, safety and environmental issues in the E&P business do not only start, once hydrocarbons are found and produced. However, increasingly higher attention needs to be paid already early on in the phase of identifying, appraising and confirming hydrocarbon resources. Despite some quite promising developments in this matter, not to many technologies have made it into commercialization or standard practices yet. Creativity and novel approaches are needed especially in a time where very low oil prices pose additional pressure onto the entire E&P industry.

Competition task

Please present innovative technological ideas for exploration of hydrocarbons with consideration of E&P companies’ environmental responsibility.

You are kindly requested:

to describe a technical task or problem within the industry
to introduce a new idea for exploration of hydrocarbons, including practical work program in case of victory of your team
to explain how your idea increases the overall (industry) environmental responsibility
to evaluate the commitment to occupational and industrial safety as well as the creative component of the project
to evaluate the “speed of changes”, i.e. how soon the design effect will contribute to economic and operations
to introduce your team, describe your team roles and evaluate the way your idea may be useful for others.

Please note, that ideas that have already been summited or are already conducted as R&D project will not be accepted.

Presentation

Please introduce your team and your idea strictly using the application form given below. Submit your idea (the problem and ways to solve it), the implementation and possible solutions in the form of presentation – maximum of 20 slides. Kindly present your ideas in English.

Evaluation criteria

Creativity and innovation of the idea (35%)
Contribution to environmental protection in exploration of HC, incl. unconventional HC (30 %)
Feasibility and economic efficiency (15%)
Quality and manner of presentation (20 %)

Award

Three teams with the best submissions from both countries, Russia and Germany, will be invited to present their ideas at a conference in September 2016, which will select the best idea. The team that will have presented, according to the jury, the best idea will be granted the Young Vision Award 2016, which comes with following benefits:

1 week internship in one of the branches of Wintershall Holding GmbH or of Gazprom EP International Services B.V.
The publication of the proposed idea in the magazine “Oil&Gas Journal Russia”
A one-year complementary “Oil&Gas Journal Russia” subscription
Evaluation of the idea by one or more international experts. If the idea is found to be technically feasible, appropriate and economically justified, the companies Wintershall Holding GmbH and Gazprom EP International Services B.V. will agree on supporting the first phase of the project via financing.

Contestants

Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program and maintaining student status in Fall Semester 2016. Participants must have a valid passport for travelling abroad.

Deadline for applications

May 10, 2016

Jury

The jury is composed of independent international experts. The expert committee’s decision on the finalists will be taken in July 2016.

Contact

Yulia Lebedeva (languages: Russian, German, English)

Tel.: +7 495 231 73 00

E-mail: yulia.lebedeva@wintershall.com

Ksenia Ryklin (languages: German, Russian, English)

Tel.: +7 495 231 73 03

E-mail: ksenia.ryklin@wintershall.com

For more information please visit: www.wintershall.com/youngvisionaward

SPE Book Store

We can only take official scripts sold by the institutes of the university and not self-written ones.

For the seller, the process is imaginable easy:
1. Bring the article(s) to the SPE Office, which is located in the separate Entrance of the RWZ building
next to the fiscal authorities (Finanzamt).
2. Wait for the notification, that the article(s) has/have been sold
3. Come and get your money either in cash or tell us your account data for the transaction process

The buyer finds the favoured article(s) either in the campus specified Shpock App, or directly in the SPE Office and is able to buy it/them to a maximum price of 70% of the original price.

If the article(s) is/are not sold within eight months, the seller will be notified by email and will have four more months to collect the article(s) before it/they will be donated to the SPE Student Chapter Leoben. In case of a selling, the seller will be notified immediately and have four months of time to pick up his or her money either in cash or communicate the account data for the transaction process with us.

For appointments outside of opening hours or further questions we are available at office.spe@leoben.org or under +43 699 19276740.

1st International Oil and Gas Majoring Students Forum

The first International Oil and Gas Majoring Students Forum “New Generation: Across the Universe” was held from February 28^th to March 6^th 2016 in the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas in Moscow. The main aim of this forum was to bring together the world’s best students studying different branches of oil and gas sciences, so they can share their knowledge and experience.

28^th of February 2016

On the 28^th of February we arrived at 14:30 at the airport in Moscow. The country greeted us with beautiful sunny weather and a little bit of snow. From there on we were brought to the dormitory by car. We finished the day with the famous Borscht, a traditional Russian soup.

29^th of February 2016

The second day of this event started with the opening ceremony at the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas. Afterwards the Schlumberger Business Case was held. In this friendly competition teams consisting of at least 4 people needed to solve a complex task regarding the production of Gas Condensates in a limited amount of time. The event took the rest of the day, and in the end the team of our German friends from RWTH Aachen won the competition. In the evening a gala dinner was held. The dinner was accompanied by some great performances of Russian students.

1^st of March 2016

This day was planned to give the students a better view on actual business problems and how the industry is going to change in the future. New technologies and the most prospective areas all over the world were introduced by world class experts. After lunch, the so called “Career Fair” was held. In this event groups of students had the opportunity to see departments of the university and listen to the latest achievements in the scientific work of universities personnel. One of the most impressive parts was the department for transportation which showed their brand new simulator for pipeline dispatching training, as well as the drilling ship simulator, which some of our students had the chance to visit last year already.

The day was concluded by the “Russian Cuisine festival”. This delicious event gave the unique opportunity to taste different foods from regions all over Russia and other countries. Afterwards it was time for some Ice skating. All the participating students were playing games, trying out ice hockey and enjoyed the great atmosphere.

2^nd of March 2016

After the wake-up call, busses brought us to the city centre of Moscow. There we visited one of Russia’s brightest buildings, the Kremlin. Inside the Kremlin it was time for some history. Local guides from the Museum explained the fascinating Russian history to all of us. The end of the day was concluded with the Miss University Contest 2016. At this event 10 beautiful ladies representing the different departments of the university were competing against each other, to crown their self in the end with the title “Queen of Oil”. Amazing artistic skills, singing and even acting performances showed the great diversity of skills that all these women have.

3^rd of March 2016

Early in the morning we packed up our suitcases and got onto the buses because it was time to go to Zaluchie. After 6 hours on the bus we arrived there and were welcomed with some traditional Russian bread. After getting comfortable with our rooms, the winter camp in Zaluchie was opened with another Russian speciality, a small cup of Vodka. Afterwards it was time for some open air activities. Sliding down a hill, pillow fight, rope pulling and dancing were accompanied by some traditional Russian Music.

4^th of March 2016

The second day in Zaluchie was used to provide us with some meaningful talks about the way to success, how to prepare a scientific paper and the technical presentation part afterwards. After enjoying some free time in the Russian winter, a wonderful performance of horse riding together with some traditional Russian winter games made this evening really unique. Finally the closing ceremony was held which marked the official end of this forum. Nevertheless in the evening the great celebration continued and the day ended with a disco night.

5^th of March 2016

Waking up was hard after enjoying such a great evening until 3 o’clock in the morning. Nevertheless the breakfast was the best reason to get up earlier. After breakfast we were waiting for the busses while enjoying the Russian winter one last time. Then we got onto the busses which brought us directly to the dormitory in Moscow.

6^th of March 2016

Our plane left at 15:35 from Moscow Domodedovo to Vienna. This was the final end of this great journey.

We would like to thank the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas for providing us with this unique opportunity. It was really amazing to see how much effort went into the preparation of this Forum. All of the volunteers were great and gave everything they had to make this event unbelievable.

Finally speaking from the heart, leaving Moscow was hard after this great experience. Nevertheless it doesn’t felt if there was something left back. It felt much more like each and every participant and Russia itself gave us something valuable which we could take back home.

This is what makes this event so special. It shows that it is not about the price of oil, it is about all of us and there is no hurdle we cannot take if we work together without any borders.

To finish this there is only one more thing to say. The idea that was started at this forum is going to spread out all over the world and not only the world, it’s going to be spread across the universe.