Schlumberger donates Petrel software to the University of Southampton

The Schlumberger ‘Petrel’ software, which is widely used in oil and gas exploration and production, will be installed in the University of Southampton’s School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES), at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton. The donation of Petrel expands the School’s use of industry-standard packages previously donated by Schlumberger allowing the School to integrate state-of-the-art tools developed for the oil industry into their teaching and research.

With the Schlumberger software suite, all work processes lead to one unified Earth model, enabling faster and better decision making. The Petrel software allows for the unified assessment of uncertainty. The School will use the software to help teach undergraduate and master students of geophysics and geology.

Jesus Nunez, a geophysicist at Schlumberger Information Solutions, made the gift to Dr Simon Dean of SOES as part of an effort to increase industry-standard geophysics and geology software knowledge for students. This preparation will broaden the skill sets of university geoscience graduates, enhancing their employability and career prospects after completing their degrees.

“The software will enable us to instruct our students with cutting-edge technology which will support future career opportunities in the energy industry,” said Prof Tim Minshull, Head of SOES. “Access to state-of-the-art, industry-standard software will help students to better understand the concepts they learn in the classroom, and will prepare them to enter the oil and gas industry as highly productive geoscientists.”