The winners (from left), Christopher Singh (General Manager for Schlumberger Information Solutions of Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore and Philippines), Madin Mohamed Maseeh (UMOne), Yew Zhen Xuan (UMOne), Dr. Badrul (UM Lecturer, Mentor of the students), Adrian Vidyananda Samyudia (UMOne) and Muhammad Ashraf Bin Suhaimi (UMOne).
A group of Chemical Engineering students from the Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya emerged as champions in the recent Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Contest 2014 organized by Schlumberger. Under the team name UMOne, the four students collected RM15,000 in cash prize, medals and certificates for their achievement . The four students are Yew Zhen Xuan, Muhammad Ashraf bin Suhaimi, Adrian Vidyananda Samyudia (all in their third year) and Madin Mohamed Maseeh (second year).
UMOne was the only team represented solely by students from Chemical Engineering whereas the rest of the teams consisted of students from Petroleum Engineering. The team was supervised by Dr. Badrul Mohamed Jan, an active member of the Society of Petroleum Engineer (SPE) and a lecturer with Petroleum Engineering background specializing in EOR and Drilling & Completion.
With 85 teams from top universities across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines, participants were required to propose a development plan to optimize the Field Oil Recovery (FOE) and Net Present Value (NPV) of a given Brown Field using EOR methods and ECLIPSE reservoir simulator. ECLIPSE is an industrial standard reservoir simulator software developed by Schlumberger.
A total of 7 teams were shortlisted for the semi-finals. During the semi-final the top 5 teams with the highest NPV were given the opportunity to present at the grand finals. In the final round, UMOne proposed a development plan of the highest oil recovery and Net Present Value. UMOne recorded a NPV value of RM528.1 millions, which is about RM85.8 millions higher than the second highest NPV value.
The grand finale was held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 21st of May 2014. During the final round, each team was required to justify their proposed EOR scheme, field economic evaluation and take tough technical questions from expert panels of judges. Among the high profile judges were Dr. Nor Idah Bt Kechut (Staff Researcher) from Petronas Research, Dr. Steve Flew (Subsurface Technical Director) from Petrofac, Dr. Abdolrahim Ataei (Principal Reservoir Engineer) from Petronas and M Faizal Sedaralit (Principal Reservoir Engineer) of EPTC (Petronas/Shell EOR Center).
UMOne proposal, which includes drilling 2 new horizontal wells across low permeability zones, is the key factor that made their proposal unique. In the end, based on the final presentation, the judges selected the following winners:
1. First prize (RM15, 000); UMOne from University of Malaya
2. Second place (RM7, 000); Le’af from UCSI
3. Third place (RM3, 000); FYPe09 from University Technology Petronas
Bravo to UMOne and all involved in the competition. UM community is very proud of you!
