WIRELINE ISSUE 27 SPRING 2014

WORKINGWITHUNIVERSITIES

SKILLSANDR&D

UKOILANDGASDATA.COM

ADDINGREALVALUETOEDUCATION

HelpingUKuniversities advance geoscience education is a shared endeavour of the 60plus oil companies behindCDA (CommonDataAccess Limited). As such, these institutions are granted free access to thewealth of oil and gas data available online throughCDA’sUKOilandGasData.comportal. This allows students to gain experience using the same quality of data as industry. For example, theUniversity of Aberdeen runs simulated licence roundswhere studentsmake bids basedon the data for the firstwells drilled in each block of a quad. They thenuse the information held inUKOilandGasData.com to checkwhat fields and reserves theywould have found. Aside from the conventional applicationof CDA’s data, theUniversity of Edinburgh uses it for its carbon capture and storage Masters programme anddissertationprojects, in addition to supporting several PhDprogrammes. An addedbenefit of this access byuniversities is to increaseknowledge andunderstandingof thegeologyof theUKContinental Shelf (UKCS) amongpotential recruits to the industry.Whilst, advances in scientificunderstandinghas significantlybenefitted exploration asmore subtle traps are located.This prolongs the lifeof abasinwhich still providesmuchof theUK’s energyneeds. Formore information onCDA’s support for tertiary education, please visitwww.cdal.com/cda-documents.

aBPexecutive sponsorandacompany campus teamwhoworkcloselywith them todevelopprojects andactivities. Lynneexplains: “It raises theoil andgas careerprofile, allowsus toensure that scienceandengineeringcourses are relevant to industry, and supports thedevelopment of capabilityand talent.” Forexample,BP is investingalmost a quarterof amillionpoundsover thenext threeyears inan ‘EnergyPartnership’with RobertGordonUniversity (RGU) and theUniversityofAberdeen. Itwill focus ongeoscience, andpetroleumand subsea engineeringdisciplines tohelpaddress someof the identified skills shortages.This includes anundergraduate sponsorship scheme,worth£20,000peryear toeach university, and sixworkplacements atBP annually for students fromeach institution. ProfessorFerdinandVonProndzynski, principal ofRGU,believes “thenew initiativeswill give significant support to thecityand regionandhelp toestablish thenortheast [of Scotland] as ahighvalue innovationand skills centre in theoil and gas industry”. Formore information,pleasevisit www.icam-online.org,www3.imperial. ac.uk/chemicalengineering/discovery/ facilities/plantandwww.abdn.ac.uk/ study/courses/postgraduate/taught/ Petrophysics. Todiscuss thePetrophysicsandFormation Evaluationprogramme, contactSenergy

“The oil and gas industry changes rapidly and, as a result, it creates significant new career opportunities. Petrophysics is a prime example.”

Graham initiallyworkedas anacademic inphysicsbeforemoving into theoil and gas industry.Headds: “Diversifying into nicheareasof expertiseopensupexciting careerprospectsonaglobal scale, and I havecertainlyenjoyednotonlyconsulting around theworld formajorclientsbut also teachingpetrophysics toa largenumber ofpeoplewithverydiverse technical backgrounds, cultures and levelsof experience.” Opendoors LynneStaples-Scott, corporate responsibilitymanageratBP,notes that the company’s relationshipwith fourScottish universities–Strathclyde,Heriot-Watt, AberdeenandRobertGordon “iskey to ourbusiness”.Theuniversitieseachhave

of industry,” saysProfessorSir Ian Diamond,principal andvice-chancellor of theUniversityofAberdeen. The teamof lecturershavebeen hand-picked for theirknowledgeand experience tohelp individualsor companies achieve theirgoals. GrahamWebber,principalpetrophysicist atSenergyandpartof the technical training team, says: “Theoil andgas industry changes rapidlyand, asaresult, itcreates significantnewcareeropportunities. Petrophysics isaprimeexample, and there aremanypeoplewho,whilstnotnecessarily trainedaspetrophysicists,possess the relevant skillsandexpertisewhichcanbe developed further.”

on+44(0)1330826673oremail Beth.Reid@senergyworld.com.

The carbon capturepilot plant teaching facility at ImperialCollegeLondon,with support fromABB, offers undergraduates the chance to learn about instrumentation andprocess automation andgainpractical experienceof plant operation

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THE MAGAZ I NE FOR THE UK OF F SHOR E O I L AND GA S I NDUS TRY