Geosciences Team Wins the 2020 Gulf Coast Section of the Imperial Barrel Award Competition

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Imperial Barrel Award is an annual prospective basin evaluation competition for geosciences graduate students from universities around the world. Each team has 8 weeks to analyze a real dataset (geology, geophysics, petrophysics, land, and other relevant material). The team then has 25 minutes to present their integrated basin analysis to a panel of expert at the regional competition. This year, because of the current COVID-19, the competition was held remotely, and the logistics were handled by Marathon Petroleum Corp. The judges select the winning team on the basis of the technical quality, clarity, and originality of presentation. This year, the Gulf Coast Section included teams from the University of Houston (2nd place), Auburn University (3rd place), Rice University, the University of Texas at San Antonio, the University of Alabama, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas A&M, and Louisiana State University. The UL Lafayette IBA team, composed of Josh Cecil, Ricardo Penaloza, Samsideen Ajala, Natalie Helm, and Gage Hendrix (left to right in the photo) will advance to the world competition held during the AAPG Annual Convention and Exhibition held in Houston (June 6-10). Wish them luck!