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February 2012
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Coordinator of the programme, Prof Wayne Bertrand, a Distinguished Fellow in Petroleum Studies, says that since then all of the major companies have continued over the years in one way or the other, but bpTT has been consistent annually. In December 2011, the oil giant presented a cheque for TT$1.3 million to The UWI as its ongoing contribution to the programme and related activities. Contribution from bpTT has exceeded TT$10 million since it started. Over the 12 years of the programme, 112 students have graduated, keeping it in line with the needs of the industry for about 15 graduates annually as foreseen when it was being planned. The programme continues to be run mainly through external funds and about 15 of the part-time lecturers are drawn from industry practitioners. bpTT continues to provide all staffing for the final-year Formation Evaluation course and also provides $30,000 scholarships annually – in 2011, four were awarded; as well as a research grant to one staff member, and the salary of one instructor. Additionally, the company accepts graduates into its Challenger programme, with all reportedly doing or have done well. Azim Ali, Subsurface Learning and Development Manager at bpTT, says the Geoscience programme has brought benefits to the company as it has a positive impact on the educational development of citizens and, “in particular, building sustainable geoscience capability for the local petroleum industry. About 20% of the [UWI] graduates joined bpTT and they have made significant progress both locally and working in our international operations. These graduates definitely support our aspiration as a local energy company.” One of the reasons for setting up the degree programme, was the recognition in the late nineties that the local petroleum industry was growing, particularly with the development of the LNG exporting business and that the community of petroleum geoscientists was aging. So the three-year undergraduate programme with an emphasis on Petroleum Geology and Petroleum Geophysics was started with the support of the Government, members of the industry, the Geological Society of Trinidad and Tobago and The UWI. The BSc is accredited by the Geological Society in London and the Energy Institute. (The Master of Science Degree in Petroleum Engineering is also accredited by the Energy Institute and was recently re-accredited by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, and by the Institute of Chemical Engineering.) The vision was to create a small but steady stream of professional petroleum geoscientists (described by one of the programme founders, Prof Richard Dawe, as those in the upstream petroleum business who assess acreage, identify petroleum exploration prospects, identify possible drilling sites for hydrocarbon exploration, appraise new discoveries, plan and implement field development, and monitor oil and gas wells during production, and generally assist field management working collaboratively with petrophysicists, drillers, engineers and commercial units to deliver production). Training consists of three years of study, comprising 21 months of structured teaching, fieldwork, 6-8 weeks of industry orientation and 10-12 weeks for an individual project. It’s designed to create a well-rounded geoscientist. The evidence is that it has. “The UWI graduates have generally performed admirably at bpTT,” says Ali. “Those who have participated in out internships made a seamless transition when they joined bpTT with some being sought after by our international locations such as Indonesia, US, Canada and the UK.” Seems everybody’s a winner. (Vaneisa Baksh) |
Among the programmes offered by The UWI that emerged out of a direct need from an industry, is the BSc in Petroleum Geoscience offered at the Department of Chemical Engineering. It began in 2001, funded largely by companies within the petroleum sector, who provided financial aid and lecturers for the various modules.