UM geology and geological engineering students, such as this group participating in Geology Field Camp in Oklahoma, can complete graduate research projects using the same tools that oil and gas professionals use daily thanks to a gift of the Petrel Exploration and Production software platform from the Schlumberger Corp. Submitted photo
OXFORD, Miss. – The Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute at the University of Mississippi has been gifted with the Petrel Exploration and Production software platform from the Schlumberger Corp.
This software donation, valued at $3.1 million over a three-year period, provides MMRI researchers and geology and geological engineering students with the same cutting-edge software used by the majority of the world’s major oil and gas companies. The software also provides faculty and students the full range of tools used to investigate complex geological challenges such as oil and gas exploration, neotectonics studies and modeling groundwater flow.
The structural and stratigraphic modeling capabilities of Petrel will help Ole Miss students complete their graduate research projects using the same tools that oil and gas professionals use daily.
“Working knowledge of the Petrel suite of geological analysis tools is in demand in the oil and gas industry, and this donation will give our students the opportunity to develop and hone their skills,” said Greg Easson, MMRI director and professor of geology and geological engineering. “The School of Engineering is deeply grateful for this support.”
The Petrel software and its advanced geological visualization tools also will be used for research.
“With Petrel we can integrate surface data, such as LiDAR elevation data, with subsurface data, such as well data, ground-penetrating radar and seismic reflection,” said Ron Counts, MMRI associate director.
“This will enable us to effectively correlate between datasets by creating detailed, three-dimensional geologic framework models of the subsurface, which can be used in research that ranges from locating economic resources and groundwater-flow paths to understanding the recent seismicity of northwest Mississippi.”
Schlumberger is the world’s leading provider of technology for reservoir characterization, drilling, production and processing to the oil and gas industry. With product sales and services in more than 120 countries, the company employs some 100,000 people who represent more than 140 nationalities.
For more information or to make a gift to the School of Engineering, contact Greg Carter, development director, at 662-915-3087 or gjcarter@olemiss.edu. Or, visit the school’s giving page at https://give.olemiss.edu.