Its participants were high school students from St. Petersburg, Nizhnevartovsk, and Izluchinsk, who presented their prepared offshore hydrocarbon field development projects to experts.
On Monday, July 20, the final stage of the "EnerGenius" case marathon took place at the Mining University. During this phase, twelve finalists assembled models of offshore oil and gas platforms and then defended their projects, which they had developed during the earlier stages, before a panel of experts. The panel included representatives from the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, regional authorities, rectors of leading domestic universities, and members of the professional community.
To win the competition, the young participants, divided into four teams, had to demonstrate a comprehensive set of specific knowledge and skills to the jury. This included the ability to assess potential extraction volumes, forecast the economic efficiency of deposit exploitation, develop a construction and installation schedule, and most importantly—work effectively as a team.
During the opening ceremony of the final stage, the Rector of the Mining University, Vladimir Litvinenko, reminded the students that in the next 20-30 years, Russia will primarily rely on its resource potential. However, to fully unlock this potential, it is essential to attract talented young individuals to the industry, increase their motivation to pursue careers in this field, and show them how their knowledge can be applied in working with natural resources.
«Modern technologies used in the mineral resource sector are comparable to those in space exploration. As they continue to evolve, the role of computers and software becomes increasingly significant. However, no matter how advanced they are, adapting them to work with mineral resources and interpreting the obtained data requires highly specialized competencies. These competencies must be developed from an early stage, starting in school,» noted Vladimir Litvinenko.
The Chairman of the Russian National Committee of the World Petroleum Council, Valery Yazev, emphasized that the case marathon had begun three months ago. It was conducted in the format of a business game combined with online learning. Each team was assigned mentors who provided guidance and maintained constant communication with the participants.
«Our goal is to encourage talented young people to enter the industry. One way to achieve this is by introducing high school students to real companies in the oil and gas sector. For example, during the winter schools that preceded the case marathon, they visited Nizhnevartovsk and Stavanger, Norway. There, they completed an educational course designed to expand their understanding of the industry,» said Valery Yazev.
It is worth noting that the event, held at the Saint Petersburg Mining University, was organized by the Russian National Committee of the World Petroleum Council with the support of the executive authorities of Yugra and Saint Petersburg, Gubkin University, and the International Competence Center for Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO.
The event also welcomed the participation of Kirill Molodtsov, Assistant to the Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation; Irina Potekhina, Vice-Governor of Saint Petersburg; Yuri Yuzhakov, Deputy Governor of Yugra; Viktor Martynov, Rector of Gubkin University of Oil and Gas; heads of specialized committees from the Saint Petersburg Administration and the government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, as well as experts from Gazprom Neft and other industry professionals.