Media Advisory: Houston, Fort Worth Students Explore for Oil, Make Deals During 2018 PetroChallenge

WHO: Over 200 Houston and Fort Worth high school students will participate in a two-day competition called PetroChallenge, where they will experience what it feels like to work for a U.S. energy company.

WHAT: PetroChallenge, an annual student competition, managed by NExT, a Schlumberger company, and sponsored by the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center, Occidental Petroleum, and Schlumberger.

WHEN: Thursday, February 1 and Friday, February 2, 2018

WHERE: Houston Community College, SW Campus, 5601 West Loop South, Houston, TX 77081

NOTE: Best times for print and video coverage of the student competition will be from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM on Friday, February 2, 2018. IPAA News Media Contact: Neal Kirby, 202-857-4722.

HOUSTON – More than 200 high school students from the Petroleum Academies, supported by the Independent Petroleum Association of America/Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (IPAA/PESA) Energy Education Center, will study seismic surveys, compete for production rigs, and negotiate deals during a two-day competition called PetroChallenge held Feb. 1-2 at Houston Community College.

PetroChallenge is a series of educational and competitive events held at schools and universities to develop students’ knowledge of the oil and gas industry and their interest in pursuing educational and professional careers in the industry. PetroChallenge is an interactive, fun exercise that mimics the challenges of life in the oil patch and it is intended to give students a taste of working for an energy company.

During the competition, the students use the Schlumberger OilSim upstream learning simulator, which enables teams to collaborate and compete to discover and develop hydrocarbons. Competing schools include Energy Institute High School, Charles H. Milby High School, Westside High School and the Young Women’s College Preparatory Academy in the Houston Independent School District, and Southwest High School in Fort Worth.

The event, managed by NExT, a Schlumberger company, is sponsored by the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center, Occidental Petroleum, and Schlumberger.

“This innovative and educational competition offers high school students the unique opportunity to experience a day in the life of a U.S. oil and gas company by applying the real-world skills and career knowledge they have learned through the IPAA/PESA Petroleum Academies,” said Barry Russell, president and CEO of IPAA. “Through experiences like PetroChallenge, we have the ability to inspire the next generation of talented energy professionals who will drive this industry forward.”

“The PetroChallenge competition is an opportunity to help introduce the ‘Next Generation of Oil and Gas Professionals’ to an exceptional team working experience, developing collaborative skills and understanding competition in a simulated ‘real-life setting.’ We are proud to be a part of this,” said PESA President Leslie Beyer.

PetroChallenge provides all the challenges, opportunities, and dilemmas that a real exploration team would face. It is during this process that the students gain an effective insight into the risks and challenges of oil and gas exploration, as well as exposure to real oil and gas technical processes and terminology, such as magnetic, gravimetric, and seismic surveys, service providers, the environment, and net present value calculations.

Each student team starts out with a fantasy $200 million budget as it enters a new oil and gas field, competing against other teams to discover viable volumes of oil and gas while minimizing costs and acting in a socially and environmentally responsible way.

“At Occidental Petroleum we strive to be a ‘Partner of Choice’ and we are proud to sponsor PetroChallenge, which provides students who aspire to careers in energy a unique opportunity to experience the challenges of running an oil and gas company,” said Glenn Vangolen, Occidental Petroleum Senior Vice President, Business Support. “The competition is a great program that encourages students to make socially and environmentally responsible business decisions as they apply their academic and technical knowledge to economically produce energy.”

“It is a privilege for Schlumberger to continue our involvement and support of the PetroChallenge program organized by NExT. The oil and gas industry is in ever greater need of bright, enthusiastic minds, and this annual competition is an ideal incubator for such talent,” said Jeff Boettiger, Schlumberger Vice President, Sales & Commercial, Dallas/Fort Worth.

About the IPAA/PESA Energy Education Center

Founded in 2006, the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) and Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) Energy Education Center is composed of five high school engineering, geoscience, and leadership academies within the Houston and the Fort Worth Independent School Districts. The mission of these academies is to provide students with a multidisciplinary, advanced academic learning experience in science, mathematics, and emerging technology concepts needed to pursue professional training and degrees within the oil and natural gas industry. To learn more, visit www.ipaa.org/education.

About Independent Petroleum Association of America

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) is a national upstream trade association representing thousands of independent oil and natural gas producers and service companies across the United States. Independent producers develop 90 percent of the nation’s oil and natural gas wells. These companies account for 54 percent of America’s oil production, 85 percent of its natural gas production, and support over 2.1 million American jobs. Learn more about IPAA by visiting www.ipaa.org and following @IPAAaccess on Twitter.

About Petroleum Equipment & Services Association

The Petroleum Equipment & Services Association (PESA) is the unified voice for the energy industry’s oilfield service, supply & manufacturing companies. Innovation and technological developments of PESA member companies have created an economic engine, bolstering the US economy with jobs and producing secure, affordable energy. Since 1933, PESA’s mission is to promote and advocate for policies that will support this sector’s continued achievements in job creation, technological innovation and economic stability. For more information, please visit www.pesa.org.

About Schlumberger

Schlumberger is the world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production, and processing to the oil and gas industry. Working in more than 85 countries and employing approximately 100,000 people who represent over 140 nationalities, Schlumberger supplies the industry’s most comprehensive range of products and services, from exploration through production, and integrated pore-to-pipeline solutions that optimize hydrocarbon recovery to deliver reservoir performance.

Schlumberger Limited has principal offices in Paris, Houston, London and The Hague, and reported revenues of $27.81 billion in 2016. For more information, visit www.slb.com.

About NExT

NExT, a Schlumberger company, provides training, competency and professional development services for the oil and gas industry. With a portfolio of over 420 courses, training programs, and competency services covering technical and software skills, NExT assists in developing the petrotechnical expertise needed to meet today’s increasingly complex industry challenges. Covering the entire breadth of the E&P domain, NExT, with more than 15 years of experience, builds development programs that span core industry disciplines and challenges.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, Middle East and Latin America. Headquartered in Houston, Occidental is one of the largest U.S. oil and gas companies, based on equity market capitalization. Occidental’s midstream and marketing segment gathers, processes, transports, stores, purchases and markets hydrocarbons and other commodities. The company’s wholly owned subsidiary OxyChem manufactures and markets basic chemicals and vinyls. For more information, visit www.oxy.com.

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