Website of Society of Petroleum Engineers Student Chapter Mining University of Leoben
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As we learned it through our journey, Romania was one of the first producers and exporters of oil worldwide and remains one of the largest producers of oil and gas in Europe. We got help from our friends and colleagues from the Romanian SPE Section and OMV Petrom in order to successfully organize this trip. Staying in the center of Bucharest gave us the opportunity to enjoy the culture and lifestyle of the city, eventhough it meant a longer time on the road to reach our various, yet interesting destinations.
On April 24th, the group visited Petrom City to meet with our hosts, the SPE Romania Section Representative, Dr. Gherghiceanu, and the SPE Student Chapter from University of Ploiesti. An alumnus from Monanuniversität Leoben, who is now one of the professionals working within Petrom, stopped by to say hello to the current visiting students. Dr. Gherghiceanu gave a presentation about the various operations in Romania in addition to the history of oil and gas within the country. We also received our PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) in order to use them throughout the entire week.
Visiting Petrom City and meeting young professionals from the Romania Section
Shortly thereafter, the group was able to visit an active drilling operation, 947 Viforata. Drilling was completed on the well, but students were able to see the process of finishing the well. The managers on site were able to give a tour through all the sections and laboratories on the rig site, in addition to introducing the group to the Weatherford employees contracted to run the well logging operation of the well.
On April 25th and 26th, the group was split into two small ones. They both visited different locations (Location A and Location B) and changed the next day so everyone could have the opportunity to fully enjoy the program.
Location A :
The first group was able to visit the geological wonder of the Berca Mud Volcanoes in Scortoasa. These mud volcanoes are the result of gas erupting from a depth of 3000 metres, which pushes up clay and water and results in the formation of the mud volcanoes. The gas is released via bubbles, so the mud is constantly bubbling. The surrounding area looks akin to a desolate lunar landscape, but it is actually a botanical reservation for certain plants. But, as many know petroleum engineers love mud so it wasn’t a problem. The group was also able to visit a Compressor facility in Barbuncesti field and learn in details the steps of the process.
The group in front of the compressor station
Location B:
The highlight of the trip was the visit to Sarata Monteoru. It is one of the oldest operations in Romania, but it isn’t a conventional reservoir. This reservoir is produced utilizing the methods of open pit mining. It’s the last oil mine in existence worldwide. A maximum of 12 visitors can be in the mine at any time, and unfortunately pictures are not allowed due to the amount of gas in the air. The mine is only accessible via an elevator shaft, which is meant to transport four people at a time to two different shafts at a depth of 300m below the surface. As soon as you enter the mine you can smell the oil and see it seeping out from the rock. You are, quite literally, surrounded by oil. The oil in the mine is produced via air injection in addition to the sophisticated technique of scooping oil out of holes. Not a lot of oil is produced, but Petrom uses it mainly for educational purposes. It was certainly educational to see the one active sucker rod pump in the mine producing a literal pond of oil. It was too deep for us to walk through since the oil came up to the knees. The entire experience really brought to life the material students learn throughout their collegiate career.
On Thursday the 27th, we headed to Ploiesti to visit our friends, the UPG Ploiesti SPE Student Chapter, and to tour the university facilities. We were able to see the numerous labs utilized by the students at University of Ploiesti in order to further their understanding of petroleum engineering. The most remarkable lab was the Drilling Simulation laboratory, which was a mock drilling floor. It contained all the equipment one would find on any rig, and the school uses it for educational and training purposes. The final stop of the day was at a National Oilwell Varco (NOV) facility. The representatives of NOV gave a presentation about the various equipment and components they design for drilling and production operations. The visit concluded with a tour of the equipment in the warehouse.
Meeting our colleagues from the University of Ploesti
The 28th of April was spent at ICPT Campina, which is the research and development branch of Petrom. It was primarily a facility tour so we were able to see all the labs where core testing is conducted. We were also lucky enough to meet some of the lead researchers at the institute. The excursion was concluded with a visit to Bran Castle, which is more commonly known as the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s infamous novel, Dracula.
The organizers enjoying Dracula’s Castle at the end of the field trip
We conclude this article by thanking all the professionals at Petrom, the SPE Romanian Section, including our dear friends at the UPG Ploiesti SPE Student Chapter, NOV, and ICPT Campina for their warm welcome and for taking the time to show us around the country and the facilities, our friends from the Petroleum Engineering Student Representation for their help and support during the organizational process and finally, a big thank you to all the participants who filled this educational journey with fun and joy.
At first, Mr. Spady got to see our Department of Petroleum Engineering, which he was quite impressed by. Not only was he impressed by the applied research Prof. Hofstätter and his team took the time to introduce him to, but also by our new building and the facilities in general. We also had the pleasure to show him the downstream applications of our beloved petroleum in the Department of Polymer Science, and especially, their lab facilities.
Department tour: Sepp Steinlechner, Ines Smaoui, Darcy Spady, Florian Gamperl, Prof. Herbert Hofstätter, Georg Ripperger (from left to right) in the Production Engineering Master Class
In the evening, Mr. Spady gave a motivational presentation to an audience of about 50 students. He started talking about his personal career which he says is an “example of what not to do”. However – and that is the huge motivating message behind this talk – it also shows that anything is possible, if you are willing to take chance and move out of your comfort zone. For example, he was based in an area with enormous shale layers in a time when “shale was considered garbage. It was something you’d speed up your logging tool”. Yet, he developed some kind of expertise in this area, which was then helpful for his further career.
With shale gas being a very controversial topic, this was an excellent opportunity to move to another subject Mr. Spady is very enthusiastic about, community involvement. Again, he gave an example from his personal career, where he had to drill a well on a university campus, in the middle of a city. Despite public concerns, he and his crew managed to drill the well, and even reduced the public resistance to a minimum by getting them involved, allowing them on site, and explaining what is going on. Darcy Spady says that regaining the public trust is the key to continuing our work in densely populated areas. This may not be the case for many areas of the world, but it sure is an important factor in Central Europe!
As the President Elect of SPE, our organization also had to be mentioned. Showing interest in SPE is something very rewarding. Mr. Spady especially encouraged us to write papers, and go on conferences with them. He also mentioned that we should not be afraid of being made fun of with our research work: If it makes it through the selection process, the paper has to be good! And Mr. Darcy Spady also specifically said that the level of teaching and research is very high at our university, another big encouragement to start spreading our knowledge!
Thomas Gundacker of BP during his presentation
The visit of Darcy Spady coincided with the traditional visit of Thomas Gundacker, a Leoben graduate working with BP. He also gave a brief talk about the world energy outlook, the role of oil and gas in the future. He also pointed out that BP is hiring students for internships and for permanent work despite the crisis. For more, visit www.bp.com/leoben
The evening was concluded with a dinner at Mensa, to which both Mr. Gundacker and Mr. Spady were invited.
We would like to thank everyone who has been involved in organizing the program, especially Prof. Hofstätter and the team at the DPE for taking the time to show our guest around, and of course, a big “Thank You!” to Mr. Gundacker and Mr. Spady for visiting Leoben. We hope you enjoyed your stay just as much as we did.
Arriving in Moscow on a freezingly cold Tuesday afternoon, we were accompanied to our dormitory. Already at the airport, we met some old friends from Krakow, who had arrived just a few minutes earlier. The next morning, after breakfast, the congress participants left for the university. The opening ceremony was dominated by a discussion of arctic operations under the motto “Arctic – From Ideas to Actions”. Several aspects from technical challenges to political conflicts were mentioned by the high-ranked experts on stage.
In the afternoon, our delegation got a short private tour of a whole new training center sponsored by Rosneft. In the light of the recently established cooperation between our universities, this high-tech lecture rooms are particularly interesting even for us Leoben students, since they might become your potential lecture rooms as well!
In the meantime, the 2018 SPE President Darcy Spady had started his presentation. In his motivational speech, he talked about his career and how he thinks that working in small companies with a more family-like environment is the best working experience he could imagine. He also talked about the importance of being an expert, and how this expertise helps one’s career.
The last session of the day were the Student Paper and Poster Contests. Split into more than 10 sections, about 100 presentations were made on research and development projects made by students. The Leoben delegation was represented by Markus Hofmeister in the Alternative Energy section, and by Florian Gamperl (Drilling). Both students participated with topics from the Literature Review Project.
Wednesday began with a Career Fair and in parallel a contest sponsored by Schlumberger. While students got the opportunity to talk to representatives of the sponsoring companies, inform themselves about job opportunities and career development, they could also get some hands-on experience in petroleum engineering decision making: The goal was to define an ideal drilling spot for an exploration well based on the reservoir structure map. This was followed by the PetroOlympic Games, a series of fast-paced questions about all aspects of the petroleum business, in which 5 teams of 6 students each competed against each other, showing their knowledge about the industry.
Chapter representatives discussing at the Round Table
After the lunch break, our delegation participated in a Round Table of Student Chapters, presided by Mr. Spady. We discussed the most efficient ways of networking, and how to make the most of your SPE membership – with the unsurprising conclusion that the most important thing is to participate in as many events as possible, talk to your fellow students and present your own research work.
But the undoubted highlight of the day was the official closing ceremony of the congress. Not only the food at the gala dinner was excellent, but also the entertainment program, a mixture of Russian folklore and youth culture together with short speeches of the organizers and university representatives was very interesting. Moreover, the winners of the Paper and Poster Sessions were announced: We are proud of our representatives for winning the second place in the Drilling category, and the first place in the Alternative Energy section! Moreover, we would like to congratulate our member Markus Hofmeister for helping his team to win the PetroOlympic Games!
Our representatives Markus (left) and Florian (right) at the Award Ceremony
Such great success had to be celebrated, and what better way to do that than in a club? The official afterparty was another platform to celebrate, and to network. Good mood until the early morning hours dominated, and we went to bed tired, but excited of what had been so far, and what would be yet to come…
Oil and Gas Horizons officially ended with trips to various sponsoring companies: Salym Petroleum, for example – a joint venture of Gazprom and Shell – is a rather small company, but they are highly innovative, operating their whole oil fields in Siberia remotely using the “Smart Oil Field” concept as one of only few companies worldwide. Other company visits included Halliburton’s Moscow office, Deloitte and the university’s drilling department, with its offshore drilling simulator, which never ceases to amaze the students from Leoben (as our regular readers will probably know already).
Sightseeing in Moscow – Moscow City, in front of some of Europe’s talles sky scrapers
After reuniting for lunch, we were split up again for guided tours of Moscow. While the “novices” were taken to the “must-see” places like the Red Square, Kremlin and Arbat, the regular Moscow visitors were introduced to Moscow’s secret places, such as the area around the Patriarch Ponds, not only the main setting of Mikhail Bulgakov’s famous novel “Master and Margerita”, but without question one of the most beautiful parts of this amazing city.
All good things pass, and it was soon time for us to say good bye again, to return home. It was a great honor to be able to participate in such a truly amazing and outstanding event. Thank you very much for our great time at Gubkin university – and of course a great thank you to the organizers for making this event an unforgettable experience! Спасибо вам большое!
The event was kicked off for the students by a field trip to the OMV Refinery in Schwechat, in which not only students from MUL, but also from Clausthal (Germany), Moscow, Ufa and Almetyevsk (Russia) participated. We were shown a nice presentation about the refinery, how the process works as well as how OMV innovates and invests in environmentally sustainable technology. Then we boarded our bus and went through the refinery. We realized that the refinery turned into a comprehensible site: Suddenly all the “smoking tall towers” almost everyone knows from their way to the Vienna airport turned into chimneys, reactors, distillation towers and so on. After about an hour, we had seen all facilities, and we could return to the canteen, have lunch and return to Leoben. But on our way to Leoben, we encountered a little surprise:
About halfway to Leoben, the bus suddenly slowed down, and exited the highway for a stop in Ternitz in Lower Austria. To the surprise of the participants, we could arrange a quick visit at Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment (SBO), one of the world’s leading manufacturers of special purpose drill string components, such as the basis for downhole motors, non-magnetic drill pipes or various logging and measurement devices. Although due to the current industry downturn the plant seemed nearly dead, we could get a good impression of how things could be here when the demand for high-quality products is high. The tour gave the opportunity to see the whole manufacturing process, starting from the raw steel cylinder over various treatment processes to the precision work of drilling out holes with diameters reaching from a few millimeters up to several inches, which are required to fit in various measurement tools, motors or electrical cables.
After returning from the Field Trip – and introducing our guests to the traditional Leoben semester opening events – we gathered again on Tuesday afternoon for the start of what would become two and a half days of intensive presentations, discussions and networking. The event started with Professor Thonhauser welcoming the guests, talking about the history of our department. His introduction was followed by interesting and inspiring keynote speeches from important and high-ranking industry veterans.
Christopher Veit (OMV), who chose to talk about the successful scientific cooperation between MUL and OMV, was followed by a speech by Gerald Grohmann (coincidentally the CEO of SBO which we had visited just the other day). He introduced the audience to his company’s operations. The keynote speeches were continued by a representative of Rosneft, Franz Wohlfart. He talked about his company, which seems to be quite unknown in Europe, despite being one of the largest oil companies not only in Russia, but worldwide, and more importantly, about the importance of strategic planning, exceeding just the next reporting period. In his opinion, even our industry, which is dominated by significant price fluctuations, has to think in dimensions well exceeding 10 years to position ourselves and to be prepared for the future!
SCOPE Chairman Daniel Hirschl is giving his welcome address. (click/tap on image to open gallery)
Chris Veit, SVP Exploration, Development and Production at OMV, explains the successful scientific cooperation between MUL and OMV.
Ted Christiansen, Managing Director at voestalpine Tubulars, focused on innovation in his keynote.
Ted Christiansen and Professor Gerhard Thonhauser
Kris Ravi, PhD, President at Kris-Ravi Consultancy during his speech about well integrity.
Dinner
Philip Keil – professional pilot, speaker, author – giving his inspiring keynote prior the dinner.
Philip Keil – professional pilot, speaker, author
Panel discussion “Last 60 Years – Next 60 Years”
Matthias Meister, SPE Regional Director for South, Central and East Europe, addresses his key points at the panel discussion.
Ted Christiansen of voestalpine Tubulars focused on innovation, and the role of our generation: We will be the ones whose visions will bring the industry forward in the future. He encouraged the audience to think out of the box, be curious and creative, and most of all persistent if we are convinced of an idea! The last keynote was by Kris Ravi, a former Halliburton Technology Fellow, now running his own consultancy, who talked about well integrity.
The day was concluded by a gala dinner in the Congress Leoben. Along with a great selection of typical Austrian food, we could talk and get to know each other. But even during dinner, we had the great opportunity to listen to another great presentation: Philip Keil, a professional pilot with Lufthansa, talked about the techniques pilots use to keep calm even in unusual and highly stressful situations. “Aviate, navigate, evaluate” and a technique called “FORDEC” (acronym for “Facts, Options, Risks & Benefits, Decision, Execution, Check”) does not only help pilots, but they are also things we could use for ourselves. The basic idea behind those models are to have a predefined “checklist”, what has to be done first before doing the next step. It also gives a clear priority to the important things (Aviate, i.e. flying the plane is the key, and only if that is guaranteed, the pilot can go to the next task, which is to follow his route. And only when on this route, he can deal with all the “greater picture”).
Wednesday morning was dominated by a panel discussion between Prof. Hofstätter, Prof. Ott, Kris Ravi (Halliburton), Helmut Langanger (ex-head of OMV E&P) and Matthias Meister (Baker Hughes, Regional Director of SPE) led by Prof. Thonhauser. The motto of the discussion was “Last 60 years, next 60 years”, investigating various aspects of the industry, what led us to the status quo, and more importantly the outlook to the future. While the panelists did not share an opinion on the role of renewables, and how much our own industry should focus on this subject, there was one thing quite clear: The future generation will see some significant changes, but oil will always be important, and a high quality education is the key to success. With this reassuring message, the official program of the 60th anniversary celebration was ended over lunch.
This was the time when the SPE Student Chapter took over, now under the motto “PEfficiency – New Technologies to Improve the Energy Efficiency of the Oil and Gas Industry”. On Wednesday afternoon, Matthias Meister talked about the newest developments in logging while drilling made possible by Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest oilfield services providers. The second presentation was done by Peter Soroka and Anna Petitt, presenting their company Tendeka, a market leader in the production of completion equipment. They also talked very much about autonomous inflow control devices, a piece of technology Tendeka developed, which is used to control water and gas influx in oil wells. This allows a more efficient production of oil while not having to shut in perforations completely.
Schlumberger Poster Contest (click/tap on image to open gallery)
Larissa Zhigalova presenting her poster “Optimization of the Process for Biodiesel Fuel Production Using the Fungal Cells as a Catalyst”
Christian Mudrak on “Subsea Production Systems”
Alexis Koulidis and Mislav Halilovic talking about “Extended Reach Drilling Wells – Cost Reduction, Challenges, and Solutions”
Christian Burgstaller, Rohoel-Aufsuchungs Aktiengesellschaft (RAG), opens the SCOPE: PEfficiency Session TWO on Thursday with his presentation on “ New Approaches of Using Fluid Level Data for Production Optimization and Reservoir Engineering Applications (SPE-180159-MS)”
Reinhard Pongratz, OMV, talking about his successful career in the oil and gas industry.
SPE Vienna Basin Section PetroQuiz
SPE Vienna Basin Section PetroQuiz
SPE Vienna Basin Section PetroQuiz
SPE Vienna Basin Section PetroQuiz
SPEcialists – The winners of the SPE Vienna Basin Section PetroQuiz
The sessions on Wednesday were concluded with the Poster Contest sponsored by Schlumberger, the world’s largest oil field service provider. 14 contestants from nearly all attending universities competed with interesting topics reaching from reservoir engineering over drilling and production technology as well as pipeline engineering and even alternative fuels. At the end, the proud winner of the contest was Airat Kashkarov, representing Ufa State Petroleum Technological University. Congratulations to him, and of course to all the participants to the Poster Contest for their outstanding research work!
Thursday was again under the patronage of your local SPE Chapter. Our participants could hear an interesting presentation about an exciting technology developed by the Austrian company RAG: The MURAG system, which allows an automatic measurement of the liquid level in a well, which is used to adjust pump speed for an optimized efficiency. The presentation, followed by a nice discussion about the benefits of this tool, was held by Christian Burgstaller, one of the leading developers of the MURAG system. His presentation was followed by the former chairman of the SPE Vienna Basin Section, Reinhard Pongratz. He talked about his own worldwide career with Halliburton, and then OMV as well as within SPE. His speech was a motivation to join SPE and to be active there – as he said, a very rewarding experience, although it takes a certain commitment.
The third presentation of the morning session was then somewhat science-fiction, reminding the audience of the legendary film “Armageddon”: David Kutas and Alexios Koulidis, a recent graduate and a master student of MUL, presented their research about drilling in outer space. A well-prepared and really interesting presentation was followed by a lively discussion, in which pros and cons of such a missions were discussed. While apparently the time for drilling in outer space is yet to come, it needs great visions and free spirits like these two guys to drive development and innovation!
Last but not least, Prof. Helmut Weiss of Montanuniversitaet Leoben’s Electrical Engineering Department introduced us to the electrical engineering of sucker rod pumps and the enormous potential for increasing efficiency on that field!
After lunch, SCOPE was concluded with a fun event called PetroQuiz, which was hosted by our sponsoring SPE Section, the Vienna Basin Section. Under the guidance of a jury of four industry professionals, about 30 participants competed, showing off their knowledge on various fields of petroleum engineering, and our knowledge from drilling, production and facilities, to reservoir engineering, and even our general engineering knowledge was put to the test. The final round was won by the team “SPEcialists”, consisting of students of Leoben and Zagreb university, closely followed by a Russian-German-Ukrainian trio and another team from Leoben.
Participants of the Schlumberger Poster Contest (click/tap on image to open gallery)
Handing over the certificates for successful participation in the Schlumberger Poster Contest.
SCOPE Chairman Daniel Hirschl with the winner of the Schlumberger Poster Contest, Airat Kashkarov.
SPE Faculty Advisor Professor Gerhard Thonhauser giving his closing remarks to the audience.
Mining University of Leoben SPE Student Chapter President Oliver P. Spenger officially closes the first edition of SCOPE: PEfficiency.
Mining University of Leoben SPE Student Chapter President Oliver P. Spenger together with the SCOPE Organizing Committee Daniel Hirschl, Florian Gamperl and Christoph Schwarzenegger.
A great thank you to every participant, making this event possible. At the same time, we would also like to thank all those involved in the planning and execution of this memorable event – organizing the framework, inviting speakers, putting up the questions for the quiz etc. – it could not have been such a great experience to everyone without your input!
Finally, we would like to congratulate our Department of Petroleum Engineering to its 60th anniversary, and wish the department, its members and most all its students a bright future! To many more great years to come!
From the 26th -28th of September professionals and students from around the world gathered in this wonderful city to address the future challenges that this industry has to face. Alongside of them were three members of the SPE Student Chapter Leoben, using this opportunity to participate in panel discussions, workshops and technical sessions. Besides that, there was also time for some sightseeing, networking and meeting some good friends from other student chapters. The following is the story about their visit.
On the 25th of September Emirates EK 128 departed at 15:05 from Vienna International Airport and was heading to Dubai. The main reason for using Emirates was that this route is operated by an A 380 and Emirates offered some discount because they were the official partner airline of the conference. After 6 hours of flight we arrived in Dubai and spend the rest of the day in the hotel meeting some friends from overseas.
Monday the 26th of September was the official starting day for the conference. During the opening ceremony the CEO of Saudi Aramco addressed the current issues in the industry and pointed out a possible solution for the future that included a concept for dealing with the low oil price. Afterwards a panel discussion took place. High ranked managers from different companies among them the CEOs of Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and the Kuwait Oil Company were discussing about the topic “E&P 2.0: Shaping the future“. The overall conclusion of this discussion was that every part of the industry has to adapt to the new environment because most likely this situation will last for a longer time.
In the afternoon the workshop “How to write a good technical paper” gave some useful insights into the procedure of successfully writing a paper and the whole reviewing process that is carried out if you submit a paper for an SPE Conference.
In the evening we spent our time with a sightseeing tour through the Dubai Mall. Finally, we made our way up to the 148th floor of the Burj Khalifa which is currently the highest building in the world, with a total height of 828m. Afterwards we finished our day with dinner at TGI Fridays.
On the second day of the conference we participated in the leadership workshop. People from different industries amongst them 2010 SPE President Behrooz Fattahi taught us about the important difference between being a leader or a manager. Then we attended the Students Luncheon were Outstanding SPE Student Chapters and the PetroBowl Winners were honored by 2016 SPE-President Nathan Meehan. After lunch we toured through the exhibition and talked to some professionals to expand the personal network but also to get some people interested in our Student Chapter and the work we are doing here in Austria. The evening featured the Young Members Reception where a lot of students together with young professionals gathered and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere in one of the ball rooms of the convention center. Later went to the beach to relax after an interesting but also exhausting day at the conference.
On the final day of the conference we decided to leave earlier to explore the city of Dubai. By using the monorail, we went to the hotel “Atlantis” which is located on the world famous Palm Island. Afterwards we went to the Burj Al Arab. This world class hotel features a great bar located on the 27th floor. It features an amazing view over the city of Dubai.
Finally, on the 29th of September we left Dubai in the afternoon. Our journey had finally come to an end after 4 days in this amazing city. When the plane departed from the Dubai International Airport during the sunset we got a last glimpse on the city of Dubai and it is not going to be last.
Next year the Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition is going to take place in San Antonio. We are already looking forward to it.
Departure from Vienna
Opening Ceremony with 2016 SPE President D Nathan Meehan
Panel Discussion E&P 2.0: Shaping the Future
SPE Booth at the Exhibition
Petrobowl 2016
The highest building in the world: Burj Khalifa 828 metres
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.
