The student team of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University won the “Best Well Management” category at the PetroCup International Student Oil and Gas Olympiad (Northern Eurasia League). In the overall standings, the university placed second. The top three also included ITMO University and Saint Petersburg State University.
According to Inzir Raupov, Associate Professor in the Department of Development and Operation of Oil and Gas Fields and coach of the teams from Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, this year, for the first time, the university’s internal selection of students for the Olympiad was conducted in two stages:
«The first stage was theoretical. Based on Olympiad tasks from previous years, we prepared more than 100 questions for 460 students of the Faculty of Oil and Gas. For the second, practical stage of the preliminary selection, we formed seven teams of seven participants each. It was held with the involvement of the Olympiad’s organizer, Nafta College, in the Mining University’s Congress Hall — the very venue where the students would compete on October 23–24. Candidates for participation in the Olympiad had to propose solutions to optimize the development of one of the oil and gas fields using the PetroCup simulator, that is, under conditions as close as possible to the tournament setting».
As a result, three teams from the Mining University were nominated to participate in the Northern Eurasia League of the Olympiad. The initial stage of the competition was not without difficulties. Recall that the tournament is divided into seven stages. At each stage, students must propose a distinct set of geological and technical measures for a notional year of field operation.
«Following the first notional year, the solutions proposed by the Mining University teams proved not to be the most effective. In the second year, the development strategy was adjusted, which allowed, within the case framework, for a significant increase in oil production and an improvement in economic indicators», – said Inzir Raupov.
The high level of knowledge demonstrated by the Olympiad participants is due not only to the coach but also to many other instructors at the Mining University. The Olympiad is multidisciplinary, and during preparation the teams had to consult on geology, seismics, geophysics, design, oil and gas field development, and well operation. The university has a substantial scientific background in all these areas, as confirmed by its 4th place in the QS subject ranking for “Engineering — Mineral & Mining” (extraction of mineral resources and mining industry).
The PetroCup Olympiad has an eight-year history. Since 2021 it has become international — the Northern Eurasia League was joined by the Middle East and Southeast Asia leagues. Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University took 1st place in the overall standings of the Northern Eurasia League at the first Olympiad in 2018 in Almetyevsk and at the first international Olympiad in 2021. In 2022, as the winners of the Northern Eurasia League, students of Russia’s oldest technical university advanced to the global Olympiad and also took 1st place there, ahead of teams from universities in Malaysia and Oman.