Silver success for SOES Imperial Barrel Team
A team of five Ocean and Earth Science undergraduate MSci students have come second at the 2011 American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award global finals in Houston.
After winning the European round of the annual hydrocarbon prospect evaluation competition in Prague last month, the Southampton team members, Peter Heath, Louise Moorhead, Nathan Payne, William Symons and Marcus Wiltshire, travelled to America to present the results from their analysis of a geophysical and geological data set based on a 600 km2 site in the Netherlands.
Their presentation contained an assessment of the potential of the area for hydrocarbon exploration and production, considering issues such as economics and risk, and recommendations about potential development.
Twelve teams from around the world competed at the Houston finals, selected from 97 universities who initially entered their regional competitions. The SOES team came second behind the University of Texas at Austin, securing the Selley Cup and a $10,000 prize for the University of Southampton, which will be used to further petroleum geosciences education.
Professor Tim Minshull, Head of the School of Ocean and Earth Science says: "Our students have worked exceptionally hard and I congratulate them on their achievement. This result, following strong performances in the European competition for the last three years, illustrates the strength of geoscience education at Southampton and how well prepared our graduates are for future employment in a global market."
