Imperial Barrel Award
The AAPG's Imperial Barrel Award Program (IBA) is an annual competition involving 5-student teams from universities all over the world who compete in the area of energy exploration and sustainability. The teams compete against other schools in the same Section or Region, and the winner will participate in the International competition, challenging the other worldwide regional winners.
2012 IBA Team and Dr. Lock celebrate the first victory of the International Imperial Barrel Award for UL Lafayette
Over eight weeks, the team analyses real datasets including information on basin's geology, energy system elements, geophysics, and production infrastructures. During the competition, the team members use state-of-the-art technology, they receive feedback from industry advisors, and network with potential employers.
The main goal is to identify prospective resources and determine their viability. The team reports its verdict during a 25-minute presentation to industry experts, who select a winner based on technical quality, clarity, and the presentation's originality.
The School of Geosciences at UL Lafayette has fielded a team every year since the Imperial Barrel contest's inception. The School's teams won the international competition in 2012, 2014, and 2018.
UL Lafayette is the only team to repeat as champions for the third time, a record that stands!
"This doesn't place the School's teams in exclusive company. It's more like a private club. Over the years, the teams achieved a level of preeminence that's not likely to be equaled anytime soon. It reflects the quality of students the School of Geosciences attracts and the strength of our graduate program" - Dr. Carl Richter, Associated Dean of Ray P. Authement College of Sciences and Professor at the School of Geosciences
Team's faculty advisers:
 |
Dr. Davide Oppo, Assistant Professor of Geology | 2022 - Present |
 |
Dr. Raphael Gottardi, Associate Professor of Geology | 2018 - 2021 |
 |
Dr. Brian Lock, Professor Emeritus | 2008-2017 |
History of IBA at UL Lafayette
Imperial Barrel Award Competition - International Final |
||||
| Year |
IBA First Place Imperial Barrel Award |
IBA Second Place Selley Cup |
IBA Third Place Stoneley Medal |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | U. of Aberdeen | Imperial College, London | U. of Oklahoma | |
| Seven teams were invited to participate - no regional competitions in 2007 | ||||
| 2008 | U. of Oklahoma | Imperial College, London | Texas Christian U. | |
| 2009 | Moscow State U. | U. of Nebraska | Memorial U., Newfoundland | |
| 2010 | Institut Franҫais du Petrole | U. of Calgary | King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia | |
| 2011 | U. Texas at Austin* | U. of Southampton | Sultan Qaboos U., Oman | |
| 2012 |
UL Lafayette* |
Khon Kaen U., Thailand | Colorado School of Mines | |
| 2013 | U. of Utah | U. of Oklahoma | Sultan Qaboos U., Oman | |
| 2014 |
UL Lafayette* |
U. of Oklahoma | Colorado School of Mines | |
| 2015 | Royal Holloway U., England | Pennsylvania State U. | King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia | |
| 2016 | U. Texas El Paso | Pennsylvania State U. | Colorado School of Mines | |
| 2017 | U. of Houston* | Eotvos Lorand U., Hungary | Curtin U., Australia | |
| 2018 |
UL Lafayette* |
San Diego State U. | Pennsylvania State U. | |
| 2019 | U. of Houston* | U. Lasalle | U. of Oklahoma | |
| 2020a | IFC, France | King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia | U. of Calgary | |
| 2021b | U. Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil | Sultan Qaboos University, Oman | U. degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy | |
| 2022 | Institut polyt. UniLaSalle, France |
UL Lafayette* |
Industr. Univ. of Santander, Colombia | |
| 2023 | King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia |
UL Lafayette* |
Universidad Central del Ecuador | |
* Gulf Coast Section Member
a) UL Lafayette won the Technical Innovation Award
b) UL Lafayette won the Teamwork Excellence Award
North America Region, Regional Competition |
|||
| Year | First Place | Second Place | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 |
UL Lafayette |
Colorado School of Mines | Texas Christian University |
| 2023 |
UL Lafayette |
University of Calgary | Texas Christian University |
Gulf Coast Section, regional competition |
|||
| Year | First Place | Second Place | Third Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 |
UL Lafayette |
U. of Houston | Stephen F. Austin State U. |
| 2009 | Texas A & M University | U. Texas at Austin | U. of Houston |
| 2010 |
UL Lafayette |
U. Texas at Austin | Louisiana State U. |
| 2011 | U. Texas at Austin | Louisiana State U. |
UL Lafayette |
| 2013 | Texas A & M University | U. Texas at Austin | U. of Houston |
| 2014 |
UL Lafayette |
Texas A & M University | U. of Houston |
| 2015 | U. of New Orleans |
UL Lafayette |
U. of Texas at Austin and Stephen F. Austin State U. |
| 2016 | U. of New Orleans | U. of Houston | Texas A & M University |
| 2017 | U. of Houston |
UL Lafayette |
(none recognized) |
| 2018 |
UL Lafayette |
U. of New Orleans | Auburn U. |
| 2019 | U. of Houston | U. Texas at Austin | Auburn U. |
| 2020 |
UL Lafayette |
U. of Houston | Auburn U. |
| 2021 |
UL Lafayette |
U. of Houston | Stephen F. Austin University |
The Teams over the years
| Year | Team members | Dataset | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 |
 |
Abigail Watson | Finnmark Platform, South Barents Sea |
| Margaret Dittman | |||
| Peyton Dardeau | |||
| Savana Anderson | |||
| 2022 |
 |
Hannah Hawkins | Alaska, US |
| Bryan McCallister | |||
| Michael Young | |||
| Camron Mire | |||
| Aaustin Felmy | |||
| 2021 |
 |
Daniella Cimadomo | Faroe, UK |
| Wiley Griffin | |||
| Kristen Morris | |||
| Silas Adeoluwa Samuel | |||
| Matthew S Harnish | |||
| 2020 |
 |
Natalie Helm | Gulf of Mexico, USA |
| Samsideen Olamilekan Ajala | |||
| Ricardo Penaloza | |||
| Gage Hendricks | |||
| Joshua Cecil | |||
| 2019 |
 |
Jacob Chicola | Basque Cantabrian Basin, Spain |
| Abigail Breaux | |||
| Grace Stone | |||
| Garrett Goettel | |||
| Cyle Chapman | |||
| 2018 |
 |
Victoria Chevrot | Great Bight Basin, Australia |
| Greg Ferguson | |||
| Kohl Koppens | |||
| Lauren Martz | |||
| Roxana Vaught-Mijares | |||
| 2017 |
 |
Daniel Friedman | Northwestern Shelf, Australia |
| Nicholas Jarrett | |||
| Amanda Johnston | |||
| Kevin Reece | |||
| Sydne Workman | |||
| 2016 |
 |
Anne Brennan | Taranaki Basin, New Zealand |
| Hunter Lipman | |||
| Zack Ghalayini | |||
| Joseph Morris | |||
| Nathan Quick | |||
| 2015 | Logan Adams | Finnmark Platform, South Barents Sea | |
| Jade Bujard | |||
| Daniel Conlin | |||
| Duncan MacIntosh | |||
| Tim Shane | |||
| 2014 |
 |
Jordy Babineaux | Noord-Holland Platform, Schagen, Netherlands |
| Samuel Ely | |||
| Nick Geyer | |||
| Jolie Helm | |||
| Daniel Sutton | |||
| 2013 | Matt Hebbard | Penobscot Lease, Scotian Shelf, Canada | |
| Samantha Leone | |||
| Christopher Murley | |||
| Buddy Simonis | |||
| Jin Watkins | |||
| 2012 |
 |
Daniel Dudley | Colville Basin, North Slope Alaska |
| Joey Grimball | |||
| Chris Hatamian | |||
| Mike Lahey | |||
| Sarah Beth Maxwell | |||
| 2011 | Kaare Egedahl | Great Bight Basin, Australia | |
| James Lindsay | |||
| Adam Kruse | |||
| Oscar Pacheco | |||
| Nicholas Whitcomb | |||
| 2010 | Ryan Armbruster | Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia | |
| Javier De Palacios | |||
| Ling Jing | |||
| Josh Reamer | |||
| Lauren Salathe | |||
| 2009 | Mark Etienne | Southwest Barents Sea | |
| Roark Franklund | |||
| Shawn Kusiyama | |||
| Emily Palmer | |||
| Matt Tinley | |||
| 2008 | Fleur Bases | Viking and Sogn Graben, North Sea | |
| Derek Hargrave | |||
| John Rosen | |||
| John Salsbury |