Global Student Competition

Thank you for your interest in the Danomics Global Student Competition.  We’re excited to have you be a part of our first annual student competition.  During this challenge, which will run from June 15th to August 15th, you will have the opportunity to work with and interpret well log and production data like those used everyday by subsurface professionals. You will also be given access to a series of training videos that will review key workflows in petrophysics, decline curve analysis, and mapping.  We are excited to see what you’re capable of achieving.

All of the videos and training material will be posted to and/or linked from this page as they become available – starting on June 15th 2020!

Educational Videos

To learn more about the competition and what you’ll learn, please check out this video: https://youtu.be/DwSDliQtsKw

All of our educational videos for this competition will be posted here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCU22_62Tc5EyhDR-UsITyigpfWj0fjcL

Goals

This competition is about learning the fundamentals of analyzing reservoir quality and performance.  We want you to take this opportunity to both learn new skills and to apply what you have learned in the course of your studies.  Our objectives are to have you:

• Learn how to use well log, production, and other data to gain insights into reservoir properties and performance.
• Interpret real data like a geoscientist or engineer in an E&P company.
• Perform well log analysis and decline curve analyses.
• Showcase your skills by generating a report that you can use a conversation piece when talking with industry professionals.

Themes

To make judging manageable we ask that you pursue a project that roughly aligns with one of the following themes:

• An integrated field study and analysis
• Original coding of a petrophysical method, technique or workflow

Theme 1: Integrated Field Study & Analysis.  In this theme you will perform an analysis of well log data and/or production data to generate insights into the various plays within your area of interest.  Submissions in this theme should include:

• Introduction to the area and data set used.
• Overview of the methods used during the interpretation.
• Description of the QC processes.
• Discussion of the results.

Additional credit will be given if the discussion includes an analysis or recommendations that would be useful to an E&P company interested in the play.  Additional credit will also be given for a commercial analysis – at the end of day companies don’t just need to find oil, they need to make profits.  

This theme encompasses the day-to-day work of geoscientists and engineers across the industry. They collect and data and make a wide range of recommendations to management.  These can range from where to drill or test new plays, what acreage to pursue, and sometimes when to walk away from a play.

Theme 2: New Modules, Techniques, or Workflows.  In this theme you will turn theory into action by writing your own code.  Subsurface professionals often look to integrate new techniques, automate parts of their day-to-day work, and push the boundaries of what is possible – and this often leads them to write their own plugins and scripts.  In this theme submissions should include:

• Introduction to the problem you are trying to solve.
• Overview of the theory/equations implemented.
• Discussion of the results.
• A working script with documentation.

Bonus points will be awarded to those that can clearly outline the business case for their code/scripts.  Additional credit will be given for novel solutions that are not common in modern commercial software.

This type of work is important both in R&D and operational settings, and is often a crucial step in giving an E&P company a technological advantage.  Programmatic solutions to existing problems are also often the basis for new startups in the oil and gas industry.

Resources

As one of our primary objectives is to help you learn more about log analysis, petrophysics, and decline curve analysis, we have made technical tutorial videos that cover both the theory and practice of log analysis and decline curve analysis.  These videos include over three hours of practical tutorials designed to give you the type of instruction you would receive during an internship..

There are many useful websites and online resources that cover a large range of petrophysical topics.  A few of the most complete include the following:

• Danomics Help Articles: Help articles covering each of the modules in Danomics Petrophysics as well as several help videos demonstrating how to use the platform.
• PetroWiki: A site published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers that has dozens of interesting and informative articles on a wide array of topics in the oil and gas industry.
• Awesome Open Geoscience: A github repository with links to code, data, and more.  There are some great python libraries available such as lasio to help you read in your well log data if you want to do it all in python.
• Crain’s Petrophysical: A shareware site that includes detailed explanations and equations for a wide range of petrophysical topics.
• ResearchGate.net: An academic social media site that has many full text articles posted by the authors.

Being able to do your own research is important – there are hundreds of high-quality websites with great information out there – and in the workplace you’ll be expected to find many of them on your own..

Data: There are many places to find data – state geological surveys and oil and gas commissions are a good place to start.  Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Kansas, Michigan, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Alaska all have at least some open data.  Texas and North Dakota often have some that is available. For international data Norway and the UK have lots of open data as well.  

You don’t need a big data set – you just need one that has enough that you can build a story around it.  Whether you get 1, 10, or 100 wells you will be judged on the quality of the interpretation and insights you make for Theme 1 and the quality of the technique for Theme 2.  In fact, we’d encourage you to keep the project to a manageable size – you’ll learn more from looking at a handful of wells in detail than by taking a quick look at hundreds.

Submissions

How to submit: All entries should be submitted via to sales@danomics.com.

Deadline: All entries must be received on or before August 15th, 2020.

Entrant Information: All email submissions should include the following information in the body of the email: Entrant name, email address, location (city/country), entry title and theme, and a 250 word summary of the project. All entries must also include the following affirmation:

“I attest that my entry constitutes original work that I performed independently.”

Format: All entries should be submitted in PDF format (attached to email).  Entries in theme two should also include the relevant code. For Python code, for example, either in .py files or as Jupyter (IPython) notebook (either as an attachment or as a github repository) would be acceptable formats.

Length: Entries should be no longer than 10 pages, including all figures, text, tables, and references.

Prizes

Prizes will be awarded to the top three entries as selected by the judging committee. The prizes are as follows:

• The first place submission will receive a cash prize of $250 US Dollars and will have their submission highlighted on both LinkedIn and on the Danomics website.  The winning entrant will also have the opportunity to do an interview on their submission that will be featured on both LinkedIn and YouTube, so that industry professionals can learn more about them.
• The second place submission will receive a cash prize of $100 US Dollars and will have their submission highlighted on both LinkedIn and on the Danomics website.
• The third place submission will receive a cash prize of $50 US Dollars.

Rules

1. All entries must be received by August 15th 2020.
2. All entries must be original works and must be the product of individual effort.
3. You must have the right to submit and publish the results, including the data shown/used in the report.
4. All entries must include the relevant references and copyright statements (for submissions in Theme 2).
5. All entrants must be over 18 years of age.
6. Only one entry per person.

Terms & Conditions

1. Introduction

1.1 These rules apply to all competitions, prize draws, promotions, giveaways and suchlike that are promoted on and run through our website or social media channels.

1.2 To enter a competition you must enter as directed on our website or social media channels.

1.3 Our competitions are free to enter (no purchase required, unless otherwise stated).

1.4 Promotions on social media are in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Instagram, LinkedIn or any other social network. You are providing your information to DANOMICS LLC and not to any other party.

2. Eligibility and entry restrictions

2.1 To be eligible to enter a competition:

(a) entrants must be a real person, at least 18 years old

(b) entrants must not be our employee, officer or agent, or an employee, officer or agent of any person or organisation involved in the running of the competition, and you must not be a family relation of any such person.

(c) entrants from countries currently under embargo or restrictions from the US Department of Treasury at the time of this contest cannot be considered.  This present includes Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, and the Crimea region of Ukraine.

2.2 The maximum number of entries to a competition per person is 1.

2.3 The maximum number of entries for a competition shall be at our sole discretion but no less than 100 entries. Once this number of entries have been received, the competition will be closed to new entries, notwithstanding the published closing date.

3. Start and closing dates

3.1 A competition shall open for entries at the time and on the date specified on our website and/or social media channels, and similarly, shall close to entries at the time and on the date specified on our website and social media channels. Unless otherwise stated, these times and dates are set to those for UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time).

3.2 Any entries received before the opening or after the closing of the competition will be invalid and will not be entered into the competition.

3.3 No responsibility can be accepted for entries not received for whatever reason.

3.4 We reserve the right to cancel or amend the competition and these terms and conditions without notice in the event of a catastrophe, war, civil or military disturbance, act of God or any actual or anticipated breach of any applicable law or regulation or any other event outside of our control. Any changes to the competition will be notified to entrants as soon as possible by us.

3.5 Entry into the competition will be deemed as acceptance of all of these terms and conditions.

4. Judging

4.1 Competition entries shall be judged or winners selected on the basis of those criteria specified on our website and/or social media channels in relation to the competition.

4.2 If a competition entrant does not meet the eligibility requirements or is subject to any entry restrictions, that entrant shall not be entitled to be adjudged a winner, and will not be entitled to a prize in any circumstances.

4.5 Our decision in respect of all matters to do with the competition will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

4.6 The competition and these terms and conditions will be governed by English law and any disputes will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

5. Winners and prizes

5.1 Competition prizes for each competition shall be specified on our website or social media channels.

5.2 Competition prize winners will be notified of the competition result by email.

5.3 Reasonable efforts will be made to contact the prize winner for 30 days but if the winner fails to respond to our notification attempts within this time or provide an address for delivery of the prize or fails to meet any of the eligibility requirements or is otherwise unable to comply with the competition terms and conditions, we reserve the right to disqualify that entrant and offer the prize to the next eligible entrant and thereafter until a winner is found.

5.4 The results of a competition will be announced on our website within 90 days following the closing date of the competition. The announcement may include the name and photograph, the town or region of residence and prize details of each prize winner.

5.5 No cash alternative to the prizes will be offered. The prizes are not transferable. Prizes are subject to availability and we reserve the right to substitute any prize with another of equivalent value without giving notice.

6. Copyright and moral rights

6.1 You warrant to us that you created your competition entries, that you own all of the copyright in those entries, and that our use of the entries in accordance with these rules will not infringe any person’s intellectual property rights or other legal rights.

6.2 You grant to us an exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual and irrevocable licence to copy, store, edit, distribute, transmit and publish your competition entries.

6.5 To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, you irrevocable and unconditionally waive your rights to be identified as the author of your competition entries and to object to any derogatory treatment of your competition entries.6.6

7. What happens to entries?

7.1 Competition entries will not be returned. Please, therefore, keep a copy of your competition entries.

8. Publicity

8.1 We may undertake publicity activities relating to competitions and prize awards. The winner therefore agrees to the use of their name, photograph and disclosure of town or region of residence in any post-prize-winning publicity names, surnames, towns or regions of residence and prize details.

8.2 All other personal details collected as part of the competition will be used in conjunction with our Privacy Policy

9. Relationship

9.1 This competition shall in no way establish any formal relationship between the competition host (Danomics LLC) and the entrant.  This competition is not, and should not be construed as, an offer of employment, internship, apprenticeship, nor any other business relationship between the entrant and host.

10. Hold Harmless

10.1 You agree to hold harmless Danomics LLC and its employees and directors from any injury or damages that may result from this competition.