Our Chapter Joins the Energy4me Initiative!

This could not have come at a more opportune time, as one of the central objectives of our board this time around is strengthening awareness of our industry for non-specialists and potential students in particular. In collaborating with other regional chapters we’ll tailor-make edutainment programs designed to educate students and the general public about the energy industry and motivate them to pursue careers in the STEM fields. By organizing school visits (Corona restrictions will mean possible online sessions!) we’d demonstrate in a fun, engaging and easily digestible way the roles, responsibilities, and benefits of a Petroleum Engineer in the context of the challenges awaiting us.

We look forward to working closely with the Energy4me team and hope that we can have a positive impact on our community. We’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

SPE President Shauna Noonan’s Visit to DPE

The visit included Mrs. Noonan’s presentation, “Transformation of the Petroleum Engineer: Impact of the Digital Revolution and Social Responsibility”. DPE students and staff, who attended the event, derived tremendous value and inspiration from her enlightening presentation.

During the presentation, she weighed in on challenges young engineers will face in adopting responsibilities and navigating their careers through the digital revolution and shifting social obligations. Mrs. Noonan discussed the challenges she faced in balancing her family life with the professional one, a point that resonated with our audience, especially our talented female engineers in-the-making. Lastly, Shauna stressed the importance of the SPE in shaping her career and personal development in every step of the way.

Following a stirring round of Q&A, Shauna’s visit concluded with a tour of our university grounds and laboratory equipment. It left deep impressions on our guest and confirmed DPE’s commitment to paving the road to the future with cutting-edge technology and top-quality research. Mrs. Noonan’s visit was a resounding success in every way, we eagerly await the opportunity to host her again.

“The visit to your university has been one of the highlights so far, as SPE President. My expectations for visiting the Department of Petroleum Engineering at Montanuniversitt Leoben were high given its reputation of being one of the best in the world, and I can honestly say that those expectations were exceeded. The discussions with the SPE student members, faculty and Dr. Ott were very informative and thought-provoking. The work being done within the research laboratories was impressive and so vital towards the technological advancements our industry needs. I am very thankful to everyone’s hospitality and kindness during my visit and I look forward to returning in the near future,” Mrs. Noonan said.

Chapter Mission Statement and Key Objectives

We look to this gilded statement as a guiding beacon in structuring and conducting our operations. Our adapted mission statement is to provide current students and incoming talent an operating platform to develop technical and professional competencies and industry engagement.

Weighing relevance against feasibility, we’d like to give an overview of the objectives we’ve set that we feel best encapsulate the core values of our Chapter. As an organization whose deeds and decisions hold the potential to shape students’ educational and professional experiences for the better, we always strive to adapt to the novelties and challenges of our milieu and industry. Forging ahead while consigned to stagnation is an oxymoron, and that’s why we’re focusing on not only fortifying the existing Chapter tenets but also laying the groundwork for developing the following:

Intensifying Industry Involvement

Ours is an exceptional industry, one that is transforming by leaps and bounds in view of socioeconomic and environmental considerations. Slated to become the engineers at the forefront of this paradigm shift, we’ll be responsible for continuing to secure the global energy supply while ensuring we’re part of long-term sustainability efforts. It’s now more than ever that we require the unconditional support of our industry in guiding us through these times of rapid change.

We maintain the stance that continuous exposure to the industry during one’s education is the key to producing evolved engineers equipped for tackling the evolving problems of the future. It’s to this end that we’ll continue cooperating with companies regionally and globally in intensifying efforts to provide opportunities to our students for jobs, internships, and informative programs in the form of technical talks and lectures. It’s our goal to make sure industry presence is felt more strongly than ever and to transcend boundaries between the different stages of a Petroleum Engineer’s educational and professional career.

Intensifying Dissemination of Technical Information and Knowledge through High-Quality Programs

This initiative seeks to pull out all stops in developing as diverse a platform as resources permit for our students and those of associated chapters. This platform would encompass across-the-board events that would raise awareness of and encourage engagement in the dissemination of knowledge, from technical conferences to paper contents, both in-house and interinstitutional.

There’re many non-technical benefits to be accrued from active involvement in such functions, which are often objects of considerable industry interest. Participation and profession are flip sides of the same coin, as the events are gateways to expanding one’s network and coming into contact with representatives that seldom fails to open doors of opportunity. It’s for these reasons that we want to include as many events into our repertoire and encourage our students to become involved, starting with our flagship SCOPE conference.

Furthermore, we’re setting a high value on holding in-house workshops, training courses (on subjects ranging from CV-writing to Data Sciences), and internal technical sessions.

Strengthening Community Core Values and Empowering Personal and Social Well-Being

We firmly believe that SPE carries the potential for being something more than a mere organization and all the bureaucratic features it entails. Rather, it’s a community; one that fosters a sense of belonging amongst its constituents, conjoined in shared goals and a common purpose. The relationships forged between the students hold value beyond an academic scope, particularly when done so towards bringing Chapter projects to life.

In cultivating communal inclusion and rapport, we want to pepper the students’ schedule with plenty of opportunities to wind down and blow off steam through socially stimulating events and meets, ranging from the famous annual BBQ to bowling nights and commemorative parties. Injecting a healthy dose of socializing into the educational experience, especially for the younger students, is crucial in maintaining a balanced approach to university life.

Strengthening Awareness of Petroleum Engineering for Non-Specialists and Potential Students

Along with increasing social awareness brought about by globalized connectivity come hurdles endemic to our industry. A facet of the modern Petroleum Engineer that’s of growing importance is the ability to communicate with society at large in a way that facilitates understanding and places an approachable face onto our profession. Openness and soft skills are of the essence. It is becoming our duty as future engineers to establish a dialogue with non-specialists and address issues in a way that dispels misapprehensions and misconceptions about our industry and its role in the world.

Part of this includes volunteering efforts as well as giving lectures for entry-level students at local schools through technical presentations, extensive discussions, and various case examples on what Petroleum Engineering is, its importance, and the role of engineers. The HSE aspects of our field are at the heart of the matter.

New Chapter Board 2020

The board positions have been occupied as follows:

President – Rusmir Helja
Vice-Pres – Patrick Jasek
Treasurer – Lukas Riegler
Secretary – Basel Al-Darwisch

Aiming to honor the legacy and build upon the accomplishments of the previous board iterations, we as the new board seek to blaze a trail through the coming year by setting into motion plans on propelling the chapter to new heights. Breaking new ground is a question of navigating the challenges of our ever-shifting environment in a forward-thinking nature all the while possessing a firm grasp on the essentials that have made our chapter what it is over its rich decades-long history. We’re determined to step up to the task and see through the implementation of new ideas and programs that will provide a plethora of opportunities that our students can harness tremendous value from.

We look forward to getting to know everyone and welcoming new members into the fold. The maelstrom of cooperation knows no bounds, and in working together we can build a thriving community and tackle that which is yet to come with success and ingenuity.

Wintershall DEA – SPEAD Programm On Campus Presentation

Dear fellow PE-Students!

The annually held SPEAD Program Presentation accompanied by the On Campus Interviews held by Wintershall DEA are upcoming!

Facts:
SPEAD Program Presentation
18.11.2019 starting time 6 p.m, HS Kuppelwieser (new university building)

After the presentation there will be a buffet provided by our Mensa with sandwiches and drinks, where you can come together with the people from Wintershall DEA and ask them questions, or just chat, in a relaxed ambience.

Additional to the presentation there will be On Campus Interviews for SPEAD Programm applicants! These will be held the morning after the presentation on the 19.11.2019 in the DPE Leoben.
For the SPEAD Flyer please click on these two Links!
SPEAD On Campus Interviews Montanuniversität Leoben 2019
FAQ On Campus SPEAD

Deadline is soon on the 10th of November, so hurry up and apply ASAP for this unique opportunity!

Stay ahead!

Internship Opportunities

Hello Fellow PE Students,

Our new supporter Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH is offering several Internships for Summer 2020!

Take the chance and gather valuable experience in the industry. Good luck to all applicants!

Spe Announces Tag as New Sponsor

The SPE Chapter are thrilled to announce that TAG have joined us as a brand new sponsor. We’re exceedingly proud to welcome such a quality and leading operator in the energy sector on board to our growing group of key sponsors and are setting a high value on its role as a standard-bearer behind our Chapter’s activities this year. This marks the latest in a rich history of high-profile industry sponsorships.

TAG (Trans Austria Gasleitung GmbH) is a leading operator in energy transportation with a pronounced heritage and an integral presence across the European gas sector. It manages the main artery of the gas network in Central Europe, spanning 1,140 km of gas pipes for the transport of more than 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year.

We’re looking forward to working with TAG and fostering what promises to be an auspicious relationship centered around our shared vision of a positive future for strengthening ties between the petroleum industry and our student body.

Call for Applications: Weatherford

Hello fellow PE students!

We are happy to announce that Weatherford has contacted us regarding an open position in Germany. In particular, they are offering multiple positions in their NextGen graduate program as Junior Field Engineer. Weatherford is one of the largest multinational oilfield service companies providing innovative solutions, technology, and services to the oil and gas industry.

Weatherford Germany is looking for Graduate Students, who are joining them as Junior Field Engineers for Wireline Services, which are available for starting in autumn 2019.
Please read more on the official Flyer: Junior Field Engineer

If you are interested please apply using the following link:

http://jobs.weatherford.com/jobs/4536142-junior-field-engineer-nextgen

We wish all applicants good luck!

Happy Announcement!

We are happy to announce that our chapter will be supported again by the Rohrer group for this year.

Rohrer group is a multinational service company, offering its expertise in fields ranging from scaffolding and installation work to plant manufacturing as well as automation/EMSR. With over 10 branches all around the world, Rohrer group is able to supply the industry with indispensable, well-trained personnel, equipment and the required know-how to ensure safe, cost-effective and sound operations.

If you want to know more, check out their homepage:

https://www.rohrer-grp.com/

We want to express our gratitude towards the representatives of the company, for believing in our chapter, and we hope to maintain the collaboration.

Your SPE Student Chapter Leoben

PMLucas Enterprise: Call for applications!

Internships for the Easter and Summer break offer!

Dear fellow PE (Master-)Students,

Are you still struggling with internships and haven’t had luck so far to find a job for this summer?

We are proud to announce that PMLucas is offering internships to PE students from the MUL. PM Lucas is developing and maintaining software solutions for Digital Oil Field applications. Both internships are directed towards master students since one requirement is to own a bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering. If you do so, look at the internship announcements and apply as quoted. These can be found below.

Digital Oil Field Intern – Easter Break

Digital Oil Field Intern – Summer Break

Easter holidays will start soon. So be fast and apply ASAP!

We wish all the applicants good luck for the application process and hope that the

Your SPE Student Chapter Leoben

SCOPE 2018 Résumé

As you all know, the Montanuniversität Leoben SPE Student Chapter was organizing the 2nd Student Congress of Petroleum Engineering under the title “PEoneer – Innovation and New Technology” in Leoben on October 15th-17th.

On Sunday, after the arrival of the incoming students from other chapters, universities and countries, we all had a warm welcoming get together at Bellini in Leoben. It is also called “Leoben oben”, which means Leoben from above and was a nice way for welcoming all participants and showing them the best view over the town. Our team was awaiting every participant with an info folder, including a city map for better orientation and one free drink of choice. Many students from all over the world were exchanging experiences in regard to studies, jobs and future plans. The tables were all pulled together, and everyone was chatting in excitement of the upcoming conference. The SPE Student Chapter Leoben was very eager to make everyone feel welcome and included. As some were tired from either travelling or classes, they went home rather early while others were at no shame to show our guests around Leoben a little while longer through the night. After all, the only thing that’s left to say is that it was a great start for a great conference with great people.

Monday, October 15th, the first official day of SCOPE 2018, started with the registration at the Department of Petroleum Engineering (DPE) building. Each participant and guest of honor received a goody bag filled with important information about not only SCOPE 18’ and the city of Leoben but also about our sponsors and their work, before heading to our organized breakfast.

At 10:00 a.m., we divided the participants into three groups and started our university tour. For each group, the tour included three main stops, but in a different order. First the drilling simulator presented by Senior Lecturer and PhD candidate Anton Lettner, who explained the principle along with the different applications of the simulator. He also focused on how the students use it in order to learn to interpret the different changes on the curves shown on the screens. Our first stop ended with a bonus, since one of our participants had the chance to manipulate the simulator and be in charge as it is in a real life situation.
The second stop was at the Geology and Geophysics Department, where Head of Petroleum Geology – Prof. Dr. Reinhard Sachsenhofer welcomed us with different posters related to the various on-going projects in our university. The participants had the opportunity to have a conversation with him about his experience in the different countries he has worked in and learned some fun-facts about the geology in the Vienna Basin in Austria, the Balkan Region, the Black Sea, China and many more. The tour ended with a visit to the geology museum where beautiful minerals and rocks are exposed for the eye to enjoy.
Our third and final stop was in the new DPE laboratory, where Head of Reservoir Chair -Prof. Dr. Holger Ott along with PhD candidate Pit Arnold not only showed the group the new equipment in the laboratory and their different applications but also presented their research about future core flooding experiments and microfluidics.
We want to thank all the guides for their nicely demonstrated tours. The tour concluded with a joined lunch at the main university.

The main part of the congress was initiated by a great opening ceremony, where the Mayor of the City of Leoben Kurt Wallner, Prof. Dr. Herbert Hofstätter and our President Christoph Flicker addressed warm welcome words to the congress participants.

One of the main highlights of SCOPE were the keynote speeches in which four different speakers from different companies spoke about their approach on how to tackle the challenges of innovation and industry 4.0. Christoph Steiner from PM Lucas Enterprise Limited started off with a technical description of his company’s solution of numerical simulation in naturally fractured reservoirs. Patrick von Pattay, who leads Wintershall’s 4.0 initiative, made it clear that breaking old habits can be disruptive in the short term, but also that rethinking and overhauling long-established processes is necessary for a modern and efficient approach. RAG’s MURAG, an innovative tool to automate processes in production operations, was presented by David Doppelreiter, Head of Business at the Austrian company, before Philipp Lang, Software Engineer at Schlumberger, completed the keynote session with his view on how far the petroleum industry can go in reservoir modelling. We, the SPE Student Chapter Leoben are very thankful for the invested time and work of the speakers and are also very proud to say, that all four speakers are Montanuniversität Leoben alumni.

In the afternoon, Peter Kronberger, Reservoir Engineer at Wintershall, Lukas Mosser, Postgraduate PhD Student at Imperial College, Franz Wohlfart, Deputy Department Director Wells Construction, JV’s and International Projects (Rosneft), Herbert Hofstätter, University Professor in Petroleum and Geothermal Energy Recovery and Hans Peter Messmer, Senior Research Analyst, Energy Studies Department at OPEC, gathered on stage under the spotlight to discuss some important points about the future of the oil and gas industry. The panel was moderated by David Doppelreiter. There was mainly a talk about oil company strategies for digitalization, adapting to new technologies and the impact it has from an economic and social viewpoint. The audience was able to join the conversation with submitting their questions during the panel discussion by means of an online live application, which was managed by the SCOPE 2018 organizing committee, Christoph Flicker, Sharadiya Kozak and Andreas Liegenfeld. This allowed for a variety of answers; the speakers contributed with their opinions on technology related ethics, recruitment, startups and the importance of soft skills.

On Tuesday, October 16th, the paper contest took place. The first phase occurred months before the congress, where more than a dozen participants sent their abstracts to our organizing committee. The abstracts were evaluated anonymously and the four best authors were picked to participate in the paper contest. The second phase occurred during the second day of SCOPE 18’, where these four participants had to present their papers in front of our two judges:
• Luis Lobianco, Technical Sales Engineer for Artificial Lift Systems at Schlumberger, Vienna, Austria.
• Prof. Dr. Herbert Hoffstater, Head of Petroleum Production and Geothermal Energy Recovery Chair at the DPE, Montanuniversitat Leoben, Austria.
The judges evaluated the participants on their presentation skills, their scientific knowledge and on their ability to answer theirs and the audience’s questions.

The ranking of the winner is as follows:
First Place: Hilali Maher
Second Place: Clemens Rainer
Third Place: Artem Karimov
Fourth Place: Alexandra Oberemok

The Student Petroquiz was hosted in the Erzherzog-Johann Auditorium. There was a setup with two teams on stage per round and with a table per team. Three members made up each team. The questions were announced by Mr. Georg Seidl from OMV and Ines Smaoui. The teams started out strongly. However, they started guessing at questions in later stages and members from the audience described as “Jokers” came to the rescue. Eventually, the team “Perdido” emerged as the triumphant winners.

At 6:00 p.m., the Student Congress of Petroleum Engineering Closing and Award Ceremony took place at the Erzherzog-Johann-Trakt Auditorium. It was indeed a great honor and joy and privilege to have Mr. Alexander Gerstner and Prof. Herbert Hofstätter with us and to witness their encouraging speeches as well as their motivational words that pushes as petroleum engineers in general and SPE members specifically to work more for the benefit of our SPE Student Chapter and university. Speeches were followed by an award ceremony for our Paper Contest and Student Petroquiz winners. Each participant was handed a certificate of acknowledgment and other gifts as cash prizes or souvenirs from Leoben and the Montanuniversität of Leoben.

After two successful days of Panel Discussions, Keynote speeches and student contests, an after party was launched at Bodega Central Dancing Leoben. It was a great opportunity for SCOPE participants and organizers to spend more time together and enjoy the last day of the congress before they left on a field trip to OMV Aktiengesellschaft facilities and the head office, hosted by the SPE Vienna Basin Section on Wednesday, October 17th. We hopped on a bus, heading towards Gänserndorf, where OMV-Austria’s Exploration and Production activities are headquartered. The first stop was the in-house core storage facility, where some 50.000 meters of cores from OMV’s assets all over the world are stored and examined. Next stops included the corrosion and metallurgical testing facility, where we got an insight into a lot of different corrosion problems occurring when producing, transporting and refining hydrocarbons. After this, we got a very interesting tour through the water testing lab, EOR lab and PVT lab.
After a delicious lunch in the canteen in Gänserndorf, we resumed with a bus tour through the oil fields around Gänserndorf guided by Well Delivery Manager and SPE VBS President Alexander Gerstner. As we were rolling through the smooth landscape of lower Austria, we got a glance on numerous sucker rod pumps, the water treatment plant in Schönkirchen, gathering stations, EOR facilities, a drilling rig, gas storage facilities and the desulfurization plant in Aderklaa. Furthermore, Mr. Gerstner was giving us an overview of OMV’s history in the regions and some future plans.
Our last stop was the brand-new 3D-Visualization Room in OMV’s head office in Vienna. With this state-of-the-art piece of technology, geologists can visualize complex geological formations and find potential oil and gas deposits that are yet to be drilled.
At this point, we really want to thank the SPE Vienna Basin Section and especially Alexander Gerstner for organizing the field trip and showing us around OMV’s operation in the Vienna Basin. It was really a great experience. We want to especially thank all our sponsors, without their help this event would not have been possible:

Gold Sponsor:
PM Lucas Enterprises Limited

Silver Sponsors:
Greenwell
ILF Consulting Engineers Austria GmbH
Weingut Liegenfeld
MND
RAG & RDG
Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG

Bronze Sponsors:
TDE Group GmbH
Sirius E.S.
Rohrer Group

Thank you all and see you at SCOPE 2020!

The Organizing Committee:

Christoph Flicker
Sharadiya Kozak
Andreas Liegenfeld

PetroQuiz at VBS SPE Annual BBQ

The SPE Vienna Basin Section held the PetroQuiz at its Annual BBQ on May 17th, 2018 in Prušánky, Czech Republic.

Six teams – bachelor and master’s students – from DPE-Montanuniversität Leoben took part in the PetroQuiz organized by the SPE Vienna Basin Section during its Annual BBQ, in Czech Republic, on May 17th, 2018. Professionals from sponsor companies such as OMV, RAG, SLB, MND, Terra, Greenwell, ProNova, VTU, PetroVisor and Nafta attended the event and shared their experience with the young students.

The SPE Student Chapter Leoben was responsible for the transportation and the promotion among the students. The first activity of the day was a guided-tour of the Slavic Fortified Settlement in Mikulčice, an early-medieval Great Moravian Memorial built along the 8th and 9th centuries. After the tour, students and professionals drove to the Hotel Beatrice, in Prušánky.

The PetroQuiz started with Alexander Gerstner, SPE VBS President, giving a speech and presenting the teams. The jury, Alexander Gerstner, Reinhard Pongratz and Jean-Marc Dumas explained the rules and kicked off the PetroQuiz. The teams, Oil Brothers, JL, Perdido, Wildcatter II, Slavinator and New Kids competed against each other during 9 rounds of questions. In the final-round, Perdido (Oscar Rojas, Luis Gonzalez, Sahar Abdullatif ) won against Slavinator (Sharadiya Kozak, Andreas Liegenfeld, Markus Frauwallner) in a hard-fought game.

After the award ceremony, all the participants gathered together and enjoyed the BBQ and wine tasting at the Hotel Beatrice’s restaurant and cellar.

Field Trip to the Netherlands

Hyped by the remarkable run on the limited number of spots available, the expectations for this year’s Petroleum Engineering field trip to Amsterdam where high right from the start. The 24 students lucky enough to be on the trip organized by the student representatives and the SPE student chapter stayed at the Generator hostel in Amsterdam from the 25th (Sunday) until the 30th of March. During these days they enjoyed insights into oil and gas related companies and universities as well as the vibe of a city with a remarkable history, world class museums and amazing restaurants.

Shell Laboratories

After the arrival day, on Monday the field trip got kicked-off by a visit of the Shell Technology Center Amsterdam (STCA). The students were welcomed by Axel Makurat, team leader at Shell responsible for Rock and Fluid Physics and Professor Ott, who was visiting his former workplace.

After two very interesting presentations by Steffen Berg on his ideas on imaging pore scale displacement using x-ray tomography and by Sander Hol on special topics related to his research in geomechanics focusing on the Groningen gas field, the students were shown around inside the laboratories. The equipment that has been moved just recently from the former location of the upstream research facilities in Rijswijk, impressed by its state of the art technology.

The remainder of the equipment that yet has to be moved to Amsterdam was visited on Tuesday, including a hydraulic drilling rig capable of automated pipe handling.

Axel Makurat during the compulsory safety briefing inside STCA

TU Delft and TNO

The fourth day of the field trip was a busy one for the students. Hosted by the committed students of the SPE student chapter Delft and Professor Rossen, a specialist in surfactant EOR, our students got introduced to the university and its traditions as well as on the current research focus of its scientists.

Definitely worth to be mentioned is a creative workshop called Dream Hall inside the university. Student take time off their studies and spend a semester or more to work on design challenges or build vehicles to compete in races.

After lunch break, the Netherlands Organization for applied scientific research TNO hosted the students for a company presentation in their office and research facilities located close to the university campus in Delft. The independent organization focuses on solving engineering problems of economic and social value. Many of their topics are related to the oil and gas industry, like the development of a new riser geometry to mitigate tonal noise and vibrations on offshore gas production facilities.

The event concluded with a get together with representatives of the company, providing personal insight in the company structure and climate, including information about how to get to start working at TNO.

Student representative Florian Weninger discussing aerodynamical improvements with the design teams

PetroBowl 2017 in San Antonio

After a successful participation in the regional qualification tournament of SPE’s PetroBowl competition in April 2017 in Cracow, Poland, the student team of the University of Leoben was able to qualify for the international finals as one of the top five European universities. Generally speaking, the PetroBowl championship pitches SPE student chapter teams against each other in a series of quick-fire rounds, answering technical and nontechnical industry related questions. As SPE’s most competitive event, it gathers engineering students from all over the world in a fast-paced quiz competition.

Several months of intense preparation, hours of organizational work and dozens of skype conferences later, finally the time had come for our 2017 PetroBowl team to head towards Texas and represent our Alma mater at one of the most prestigious conferences of the petroleum industry, the SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition (ATCE) in San Antonio. Owing to the kindness of our sponsors, the Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG, the Department of Petroleum Engineering (DPE), the SPE Vienna Basin Section, and the city council of Leoben, we were able to avoid any doubts about the feasibility of our “Project PetroBowl”. The massive Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center as the venue of the conference, which is located next to the famous San Antonio River Walk emphasized the marvelous ambience of the competition.

After we finally arrived in San Antonio, we used the last hours before the competition to finalize our preparation by studying potential questions such as the technical details of drilling equipment, statistics about world oil consumption or the history of the petroleum industry. The main competition started with a brief introduction of the general rules of the game early in the morning. The first game our team from the University of Leoben was scheduled against the University of Kansas from the United States. With an impressive performance we managed to win our first match with an ultimate score of 89 to 5, which allowed our team to advance to the top-16 round. The next opponent was the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), which was the winner of the 2015 competition in Houston, Texas. In a tight game, in which we were able show our knowledge about technical details about the petroleum industry, eventually the Mexican team was able to secure a narrow victory against our student chapter. The first disappointment disappeared soon, as we realized that we lost against the later winner of the 2017 PetroBowl competition and the best team of the tournament.

The entire PetroBowl competition as well as the conference itself was a great experience for all of us. We would like to express again our deep gratitude to our sponsors, the Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG, the DPE, our SPE student chapter, the SPE Vienna Basin Section, and the city council of Leoben. Without their financial support, this project would not have been possible.

SPE Connect Survey

The Montanuniversitaet Leoben SPE Student Chapter is a proud member of the SPE Connect Now Workgroup. In November 2016 we gathered with colleagues from parts of Europe, the United States, Australia and Africa for a discussion about the use of SPE Connect and soon we realized that all are encountering the same problems with the platform and we tried to find a solution.

We would like you to take a part in this 5 minutes survey and tell us your thoughts about SPE Connect. As we are in close connection with SPE International to give them the feedback in order to raise awareness and try to contribute changes to the SPE Connect platform to increase awareness and report bugs on the site and the apps.


 
  
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Field Trip to Romania

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 24^th, 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 25^th and 26^th, 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 27^th, 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 28^th 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 — 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.

PetroBowl Qualifier at East Meets West

About a week ago, the “East meets West” conference took place for the 8^th time. It was organized by AGH University of Science and Technology, Faculty of Drilling, Oil and Gas as well as the AGH UST Student Chapter and was located in Krakow in Poland. The good reputation of the AGH University and the success of the EMW conference in previous years was already promising a great event.

Dozens of students from all over the world came to see and attend interesting and inspiring paper and poster presentations from different fields of study as well as different study levels. Entertaining Panel discussions about HSE aspects and women in O&G industry were held together with industry’s professionals. Several companies such as MOL Group, Schlumberger and Baker Hughes took their chance and came to present their companies and fields of business in an exciting career session. And last but not least there was this one quiz about petroleum industry – the regional PetroBowl Qualifier for Europe, North Sea, Russia and Caspian SPE Sections.

Markus Hofmeister, Alexis Koulidis, Robert Nitsche, Michael Nirtl, and Mathias Bayerl (left to right) proudly represented MUL at the PetroBowl Regional Qualifier at the EMW Congress in Krakow

The arrival and welcome at the accommodation was well organized and the conference kicked off with a meet-and-greet session or simple said a pub-crawl in the city center of Krakow. On Tuesday, the first official day of the event more and more students arrived and the conference was opened by Mr. Stanislaw Nagy, representative of AGH university and Mr. Mathias Meister, SPE representative and regional director.

Later on, the first student paper contest for undergraduates started and several students presented their research work about various topics of technical and economic nature. As part of the contest, our colleague from SPE Student Chapter Oliver Spenger held a great presentation on Big Data in which he explained why less data is sometimes more. For his excellent performance, he was awarded with the second place. Congratulations Oliver!

On Wednesday morning, the preliminaries of the PetroBowl Qualifier were scheduled. Twenty teams had to compete against each other in head-to-head quiz rounds in order to reach the best 16. Six teams were already set for the next round due to good performance in the previous year. The team from Montanuniversität Leoben participated for the first time ever in the PetroBowl tournament and had to start off against Aberdeen University in their preliminary round. Ignoring mathematics here, every team was 150% motivated and the atmosphere was overwhelming. With a sound performance, our team won and went to the next round where University of Miskolc waited for them. After another win in the afternoon session, Leoben proceeded to the quarterfinals and finished its PetroBowl business for that day.

A room full of tension during the match between Montanuniversitaet Leoben and the team from Politecnico di Torino

After a more or less short night out – priorities first – Leoben competed against Politecnico di Torino on Thursday afternoon. It was a thrilling match but in the end we won and qualified for the PetroBowl finals in San Antonio Texas. From there, all the pressure was gone and we had won dozens of fans already. In the semifinals, the last four teams competed against each other: Heriot Watt vs. AGH University & MU Leoben vs. Gubkin University. Additionally to those four teams, our friends from Stavanger University have qualified as well for the PetroBowl finals due to the Lucky Loser regulation. Congratulations!

With a solid performance, our colleagues managed to win against Gubkin University and made it to the final! In the other semifinal, AGH University defeated Heriot Watt University so that the final was made up of the host AGH University and our team from Leoben. The atmosphere was loaded

ACPC in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Arriving in Almaty, I almost immediately fell asleep after having been traveling for more than 12 hours. Nevertheless, the long travel paid off, as I realized in the next days. On April 14, the conference began with the opening ceremony in which university and company representatives talked about the importance of networking and sharing experience and knowledge, two key points for SPE International. Also, as so often on conferences these days, the industry situation, and especially its implications for the students and fresh graduates, was a topic. Mr Iskhakov of KazNTU emphasized in this context that we should always keep these wise words in our minds: “Even if the whole world seems to be against you, always remember that airplanes always start against the wind!”

Florian defending his research work in the form of a poster

Subsequently, three events took place at the same time: The Petroleum Engineering Congress with the Upstream section of the paper contest, the Oil Games (a quiz competition), and the Job Fair, where the most renowned companies that work in Kazakhstan were represented. After lunch, it was also my own turn in participating in the paper contest, competing against 15 other students in the upstream area, with interesting topics reaching from drilling over reservoir simulation to production and reservoir management. In the evening, we were taken to Kok Tobe, a hill at the city limits, which gave us a stunning view of nightly Almaty. Tired after walking around we took the ropeway back down to the city.

Stunning view of ALmaty, the former Kazakh capital at night

The second (and already final) day started with the semi-final rounds of the Oil Games, as well as the Geology Paper Contest. Afterwards, there were presentations and motivational speeches by young successful people, such as movie directors, photographers or businessmen. They talked about how to achieve success and happiness in life – and they agreed on a surprisingly simple formula: “Do what you enjoy doing, and success and happiness will come to you all by themselves!”

After lunch, the Downstream paper contest session took place while the finalists of the Oil Games fought for the first place, which was ultimately won by three ladies of the Kazakh-British Technical University SEG Chapter, closely followed by the three ladies from Gubkin University.

In the evening, the Petroleum Party took place. In this evening gala, the winners of the paper contest sessions were announced, and I could not believe when I heard that I made third place! Of course, the evening continued on with lots of dancing, talking and taking pictures…

Medeu ski resort in the mountains surrounding Almaty. Skiing is possible until the summer here at nearly 3,000m, and you feel just like in the Austrian Alps!

Sunday morning, I used the little free time I had, going to Medeu in the close by mountains together with colleagues from Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. Despite the poor weather conditions in the city, the air at nearly 3,000m above sea level was fresh, but surprisingly warm, and the local ski resort really made me want to stay longer to go skiing!

After all, the two and a half days in Almaty passed very quickly, leaving me with only one wish: having had more time to spend there to explore the city and the its surrounding amazing nature more deeply, as well as enjoying the hospitality of Kazakhstan for longer! All I can say is thank you very much to the organizers for this great event, and for the great time I had in Almaty, as well as to all the great people I met, who all made this a really unforgettable trip! Looking forward to meeting you all again! Рақмет!

ASEC 2017 in Zagreb

The prestigious event has established its reputation as a yearly meeting, joining the student chapters from different technical universities to address the current status of the oil and gas industry as well as the technological novelties in the domain. Our Montanuniveristät Leoben SPE Student Chapter had the opportunity to be represented in the event.

During the opening ceremony, several notable personalities from the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the city of Zagreb, the University of Zagreb and the sponsoring companies held speeches to welcome the attendees to the conference insisting on the importance of such technical events.

A panel session followed titled “Future of Petroleum Industry: New Solutions to Old Challenges “ featuring a diverse group of experts representing the Croatian government as well as a number of different companies. The discussion covered a broad range of topics as the technological advances that became essential in this new age of efficiency, the current status of the oil price and the unconventional oil and gas resources. The panel focused on the importance of the new generation of petroleum engineers and their need to deal with the new uprising challenges in the industry with keeping a flexible approach to their career choices.

1161 — Panel Discussion: Moderator Daria Karasalihović Sedlar, Riverson Oppong, Mathias Meister, Dejan Ljuština, Jerko Jelić Balta, Davor Štern (from left to right)

After a short break, a series of presentations was carried on by of HEP Gas Supply ltd, Plinacoro and INA.

During the afternoon session, a presentation was held by Prvo Plinarsko drustvo on the topic of gas prices and their determining factors followed by another presentation as a part of the paper contest.

On the second day, the conference started with a presentation by Mr Dragutin Domitrovic representing MB Geothermal d.o.o. on “Turkish Experiences in Using Geothermal Resources for Electricity Generation”. The presentations carried on throughout the day from both the students as a part of the paper contest and from professionals from different companies such as Baker Hughes, ENI and Schlumberger.

The day was finalized with a soft skills workshop held by MR Danijel Dadovic from the Student Support and Career Development Center and Ms Ana Boric from INA HR department.

On the third day of the conference, the rest of the presentations from the paper contest were held featuring our fellows from the Montanuniversitaet Leoben SPE Student Chapter, Florian Gamperl with a presentation on “Wellbore Quality – Impacts and Assessment Methods” and Mohamed Amine Ouarda on “Gas Storage in Salt Domes”. A Poster Session and a PetroTournament were also held throughout the day.

Representatives Mohamed Amine Ouarda and Florian Gamperl during their presentations

During the closing ceremony, the winners of the paper contest, the petrotournament and the poster contest were announced with our fellow Mohamed Amine Ouarda being tied for the second place for his presentation.

However, the conference program did not end after the closing ceremony. The Zagreb SPE Student Chapter still offered a field trip to the offshore drilling rig “Labin” which is currently in the harbor of Pula. After a bus ride through the picturesque mountains of Croatia the bus arrived in Pula, where the jack-up rig was immediately visible.

After getting our safety equipment, we were shown around the rig, getting to see not only the rig floor, mud pits and blowout preventer, but also the crew’s resting area. After this exciting excursion, we had a final traditional Croatian dinner on our way back home to Zagreb, where we unfortunately had to depart the next day.

We would like to thank the SPE Zagreb Team for these unforgettable days of networking, discussing and exploring new technologies and horizons! Looking forward to see you again next year!

Soft skills to facilitate success in the current economic crisis

Once again the workshop was held by Lori and Dwyann Dalrymple from Architecture of Communication. They are running their own company, which is specialised in teaching industry professionals and students how to utilise soft skills in the work life.

The workshop started Friday in the morning with a fun exercise. Everybody had to take a shoe off and put it in front of the white board. Then each participant had to pick a shoe which didnt belong to him and talk to the owner of the shoe. Then he had to introduce this person to the rest of the participants. Afterwards Lori talked about the importance of critial thinking and how it can influence our behaviour in the daily life. It is an important skill because it influences our decision making process. Another interesting topic which was covered, was the difference between vertical and lateral thinking. Vertical thinking means that coming up with a solution for a certain problem or task. Compared to that lateral thinking is totally different and it is mostly used by creative persons. It is not a structured process and it means that you come up with several ideas and new paths during the process of solving a specific problem or task.

After lunch it was time to adress the topic “The power of appearance”. People form an opinion about you during the first sixty seconds they meet you. This is especially important during an interview situation. Therefore you should always be the best version of yourself. The day was concluded with short presentations where each particpant had to state two facts about their life which are true and one lie. Afterwards the other participants had to find out which of the three statements was the lie based on the performance of the presenter.

On the second day of the workshop the participants learned how to create a personal brand. The personal brand is something which seperates an individual from the rest. The creation of a personal brand starts with the CV. Basically all the students who finish university start with the same technical background. Therefore you have to highlight what makes you special, such as volunteerism, special skills and if possible your record about writing papers. After that you have to think about your performance in an interview. You should never be underdressed and it is appropriate for an interview to show up in a suit and tie. Furthermore your overall appearance should be confident but not arrogant and pay attention to cultural differences. What might be appropriate for an interview in Austria does not necessarily apply to any other country.

After lunch the focus was on the so called SWOT analysis. Theses letters stand for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. By doing that you can quickly find out which strengths you already have and where you have to improve. Opportunities represent what you can do to enhance your chances of acomplishing a goal. And you have to think about threats which could possibly lead to trouble on your way to acomplish that goal. Finally in the last session of the workshop the partcipants learned about SMART goals. Goals should always be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound. If you set goals based on this technique you are more likely to succeed.

During the whole workshop Lori and Dwyann encouraged the participants to use their skills in different exercises. For example in one of the exercises the participants had to form teams. Afterwards they had to build a tower made out of paper without using any items such as glue or a scissor. The team with the higher tower won the competition. It was a simple exercise but it required the application of several skills such as leadership, time management, critical thinking and communication.

In the end the Montanuniversitaet Leoben SPE Student Chapter would like to thank Lori and Dwyann very much for their time and effort to make this workshop possible. Once again it was a great pleasure for us to learn from your experience, expertise and knowledge. Furthermore we would like to thank the SPE Vienna Basin Section for their financial contribution to make this workshop possible. We really appreciate this generous support.

If you want to have further infomation about Lori and Dwyanns expertise and their company please follow the link to their homepage:

http://arofcom.com/aocskills/

Reservoir Modeling Workshop – from seismic to simulation

The workshop was divided into three main parts, where each professional taught his area of expertise to a class of 20 students from different countries studying in Leoben in different Master- and Bachelor programs, such as Petroleum Engineering and Geology.

Mr. Haghighi giving an introduction into Petrel (Photo Credit: Thomas Herzog)

On the first one and a half days, Mr. Maziar Haghighi got us a perfect start with the software solution Petrel, even to those who had no idea about it. After the start was done and people got comfortable with the software, he showed us, how to import predefined time (PSTM) and depth (PSDM) domain seismic volumes and how to convert within these two using a velocity model. Setting up new Petrel projects, defining seismic horizons, mapping and adjusting the wells using different gridding algorithms were the overall goals in this time with Mr. Haghighi.

Working further on the project, coming to the static geomodeling part of the workshop, Mr. Keyvan Osivandi, Geologist at OMV, taught us, how to correlate log data with the model. We created the body via fault and horizon modeling and filled it via porosity, permeability and saturation modeling followed to volumetric calculations.

When the static part of the project was done, dynamic simulation was the topic of Mr. Nicolas Legrand. We did the initialization of the reservoir to get it to dynamic equilibrium at the start of production using initial pressure and saturation data. After the initialization process, a history match with existing data was necessary to get a good reservoir model for forecasting further processes. Based on the forecast, we could make a decision if a workover in an existing well or if an infill would be more beneficial in the field.

Working hard and having fun doing it (Photo Credit: Thomas Herzog)

Summarized, the workshop gave us a really good start in working with the Software Petrel and renewed or even created much reservoir knowledge for students in different study programs. It was a pleasure to work with professionals from OMV who really know what they are talking about.

We would like to thank the ÖGEW for their help, without them this event would never have been possible!

Darcy Spady Visits Montanuniversitaet Leoben

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.

The Struggle Over Oil

The panelists were Prof. Philippe Le Billon, geographer at the University of British Columbia, and Manana Kochladze, biologist, founder of the environmental watchdog group Green Alternative and winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize 2016. Moderator of the discussion was the Head of the Politics Department at the University of Linz Prof. Karin Fischer.

The opening statements were dedicated to the question of who are the “main actors” in the political and economic oil network, as well as what role they play, and what drives them. Looking at reserves, Prof. Le Billon stated that the two biggest players are Saudi Arabia (conventional) and Venezuela (heavy oil); however, looking the resources, the United States are the clear leader ahead of Russia. He also provided an insight in the economics of oil production: Assuming 100USD oil price, 20USD are lifting costs. This number will only vary slightly despite oil price changes. The oil producing countries’ governments take another 33USD as royalties etc., 40USD go to the consumer countries’ governments as taxes and corporate profit would only be 7USD. In the current price environment, this means that ca. 1/3 of the oil price are lifting costs (as they are quite independent of the oil price), governments take 63%, and only a mere 3-4% are left up for the international oil companies (IOCs). This implies that IOCs are striving to reduce lifting costs.

Mrs Kochladze focused her opening statement on the communities, and their role: Only in the past 20-30 years, oil companies started to involve the locals in their business and saw them as equal stakeholders in projects – a cause for many conflicts in the past, some of which lasting until now. Another aspect of her statement was the way how the mindset of oil companies, and especially the governments of oil producers, works when it comes to justifying big investments: Economically challenging projects such as transit pipelines are split into sections, which will increase the profit and throughput per dollar spent: Imagine a pipeline that costs 1bn USD and has an expected throughput of 1bcf of gas, that would mean 1bcf/USD. But splitting the pipeline into four sections, which obviously have the same throughput, the performance will increase to 4bcf/USD, making the project look a lot better! However, the overall economic feasibility remains the same and often even questionable).

The topic of the discussion slowly moved into the direction of conflicts over oil, and how they affect the geopolitical situation. The consensus that was reached was that there are five different reasons for conflicts over oil:

“Peak Oil” – the struggle over the remaining reserves
Geopolitical aspect – oil as a strategic resource, and as a diplomatic “weapon”
Climate change – migration and other social changes caused by it
Environmental conflicts – both unarmed resistance against projects as well as “environmental terrorism” (i.e. violent opposition) as means to deal with oil companies and (often autocratic) governments of the oil producing countries
“Conflict Oil” – like blood diamonds, oil is a major economic factor for any party involved in armed conflicts

It was also stated that oil was the “excrement of the devil”, as it is not only the cause for conflicts, but also for the local communities, which are often suppressed to make prestigious projects possible.

“Oil is a very practical fuel. Thus, it will be hard to replace it in transportation, but it is fairly easy to replace in other areas, such as heating and energy production, or for the production of packing material.”

Philippe Le Billon

Finally, the question of how to cope with increasing oil prices, the environmental impact of oil and finding alternatives to fossil fuels was raised. As we live in the “Oil Age”, petroleum simply is our most important natural resource. A population increase will inevitably lead to an even higher consumption, both by direct causes such as transportation and heating, and by indirect ones, such as the production of many consumer goods. Visionary takes on this problem will be needed to succeed – and electrical mobility is seen as such a thing by the panelists. Moreover, the private car will – according to the panelists – vanish from cities, and the bicycle should become the number one means of transportation there.

The second half of the session was dedicated to questions from the audience. Geopolitical questions, such as the role of Iran and China as well as of the new US government were discussed as well as more technical ones in the direction of the feasibility to get rid of fossil energy sources altogether in the near future, or the impact of a transition towards e-mobility on environment and global economy.

The geopolitical aspect was answered in the following way: While the decision of US President Trump to include Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson (Secretary of State) in his cabinet may not mean too much (and is not even unusual as Dick Cheney, Vice President under George W. Bush was CEO of Halliburton), the nomination of Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency) is clear signals towards the energy sector: He is assumed to facilitate hydraulic fracturing operations in the US, securing the US role on the global oil market on a longer time. As for China, the focus will probably be to spend the accumulated money on oil projects in the Caucasus and the Balkans, thus weakening the role of Russia for Europe’s supply security. The lifting of sanctions against Iran on the other hand will primarily have regional effect: the mid- and downstream industry in the neighboring countries will be affected, as those will be the countries that will have to ensure the transportation to the consumers in Europe.

The discussion was concluded with the final statement that oil demand has peaked, and will probably decline in the developed countries. However, especially in the US there is a significant correlation between oil price and consumption, which will not assist in moving on towards other resources.

(We would like to point out that the above opinions, especially on political topics, are the reproduction of the ones stated in the panel discussion, they do not necessarily reflect the ones of the Student Chapter.)

We are hiring!

Dear SPE Members and Petroleum Engineering Students!

We are looking for creative minds to share our vision for the future of the SPE Student Chapter Leoben. Take a look at our job openings and apply if you find working at the SPE Student Chapter would be something for you.

Take the chance to fill a position of your choice – due to the progress of their studies, the current board will no longer be available for 2017. All available positions are described in detail, accessible via the following link:

2017 Job Openings

Board positions

President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer

Officer positions

International Relations Chairperson
Head of Public Relations
Membership Chairperson
Events Chairperson
Training Chairperson
Office Manager

Project Leaders (Field Trip 2017, Book Order 2017, PetroBowl 2018) and Assistant of Chairperson.

Deadline for applications for board positions: January 6th, 12:00

Deadline for applications for officer positions: February 3rd, 12:00

If you are interested in one or even more fields please do not hesitate and write a short email application to chapter@speleoben.com.