Imperial Barrel Award

The AAPG's Imperial Barrel Award Program (IBA) is an annual competition involving 5-student teams from universities all over the world who compete in the area of energy exploration and sustainability. The teams compete against other schools in the same Section or Region, and the winner will participate in the International competition, challenging the other worldwide regional winners.

2012 IBA Team and Dr. Lock celebrate the first victory of the International Imperial Barrel Award for UL Lafayette

Over eight weeks, the team analyses real datasets including information on basin's geology, energy system elements, geophysics, and production infrastructures. During the competition, the team members use state-of-the-art technology, they receive feedback from industry advisors, and network with potential employers.

The main goal is to identify prospective resources and determine their viability. The team reports its verdict during a 25-minute presentation to industry experts, who select a winner based on technical quality, clarity, and the presentation's originality.

The School of Geosciences at UL Lafayette has fielded a team every year since the Imperial Barrel contest's inception. The School's teams won the international competition in 2012, 2014, and 2018.

UL Lafayette is the only team to repeat as champions for the third time, a record that stands!

"This doesn't place the School's teams in exclusive company. It's more like a private club. Over the years, the teams achieved a level of preeminence that's not likely to be equaled anytime soon. It reflects the quality of students the School of Geosciences attracts and the strength of our graduate program" - Dr. Carl Richter, Associated Dean of Ray P. Authement College of Sciences and Professor at the School of Geosciences

Team's faculty advisers:

	Dr. Davide Oppo, Associate Professor of Geology	2022 - Present
	Dr. Raphael Gottardi, Associate Professor of Geology	2018 - 2021
	Dr. Brian Lock, Professor Emeritus	2008-2017

History of IBA at UL Lafayette

Year	IBA First Place Imperial Barrel Award	IBA Second Place Selley Cup	IBA Third Place Stoneley Medal
Imperial Barrel Award Competition - International Final
2007	U. of Aberdeen	Imperial College, London	U. of Oklahoma
Seven teams were invited to participate - no regional competitions in 2007

2008	U. of Oklahoma	Imperial College, London	Texas Christian U.
2009	Moscow State U.	U. of Nebraska	Memorial U., Newfoundland
2010	Institut Franҫais du Petrole	U. of Calgary	King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia
2011	U. Texas at Austin*	U. of Southampton	Sultan Qaboos U., Oman
2012	UL Lafayette*	Khon Kaen U., Thailand	Colorado School of Mines
2013	U. of Utah	U. of Oklahoma	Sultan Qaboos U., Oman
2014	UL Lafayette*	U. of Oklahoma	Colorado School of Mines
2015	Royal Holloway U., England	Pennsylvania State U.	King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia
2016	U. Texas El Paso	Pennsylvania State U.	Colorado School of Mines
2017	U. of Houston*	Eotvos Lorand U., Hungary	Curtin U., Australia
2018	UL Lafayette*	San Diego State U.	Pennsylvania State U.
2019	U. of Houston*	U. Lasalle	U. of Oklahoma
2020^a	IFC, France	King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia	U. of Calgary
2021^b	U. Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil	Sultan Qaboos University, Oman	U. degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy
2022	Institut polyt. UniLaSalle, France	UL Lafayette*	Industr. Univ. of Santander, Colombia
2023	King Fahd U., Saudi Arabia	UL Lafayette*	Universidad Central del Ecuador

* Gulf Coast Section Member
a) UL Lafayette won the Technical Innovation Award
b) UL Lafayette won the Teamwork Excellence Award

Year	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
North America Region, Regional Competition
2022	UL Lafayette	Colorado School of Mines	Texas Christian University
2023	UL Lafayette	University of Calgary	Texas Christian University

Year	First Place	Second Place	Third Place
Gulf Coast Section, regional competition
2008	UL Lafayette	U. of Houston	Stephen F. Austin State U.
2009	Texas A & M University	U. Texas at Austin	U. of Houston
2010	UL Lafayette	U. Texas at Austin	Louisiana State U.
2011	U. Texas at Austin	Louisiana State U.	UL Lafayette
2013	Texas A & M University	U. Texas at Austin	U. of Houston
2014	UL Lafayette	Texas A & M University	U. of Houston
2015	U. of New Orleans	UL Lafayette	U. of Texas at Austin and Stephen F. Austin State U.
2016	U. of New Orleans	U. of Houston	Texas A & M University
2017	U. of Houston	UL Lafayette	(none recognized)
2018	UL Lafayette	U. of New Orleans	Auburn U.
2019	U. of Houston	U. Texas at Austin	Auburn U.
2020	UL Lafayette	U. of Houston	Auburn U.
2021	UL Lafayette	U. of Houston	Stephen F. Austin University

The Teams over the years

Year	Team members	Dataset
2024	Victoria Sanchez	Scotian Shelf, Canada
	Shiwani Shrestha
	David Starkovich
	Joyeeta Chakma
2023	Abigail Watson	Finnmark Platform, South Barents Sea
	Margaret Dittman
	Peyton Dardeau
	Savana Anderson
2022	Hannah Hawkins	Alaska, US
	Bryan McCallister
	Michael Young
	Camron Mire
	Aaustin Felmy
2021	Daniella Cimadomo	Faroe, UK
	Wiley Griffin
	Kristen Morris
	Silas Adeoluwa Samuel
	Matthew S Harnish

2020	Natalie Helm	Gulf of Mexico, USA
	Samsideen Olamilekan Ajala
	Ricardo Penaloza
	Gage Hendricks
	Joshua Cecil

2019	Jacob Chicola	Basque Cantabrian Basin, Spain
	Abigail Breaux
	Grace Stone
	Garrett Goettel
	Cyle Chapman

2018	Victoria Chevrot	Great Bight Basin, Australia
	Greg Ferguson
	Kohl Koppens
	Lauren Martz
	Roxana Vaught-Mijares

2017	Daniel Friedman	Northwestern Shelf, Australia
	Nicholas Jarrett
	Amanda Johnston
	Kevin Reece
	Sydne Workman

2016	Anne Brennan	Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
	Hunter Lipman
	Zack Ghalayini
	Joseph Morris
	Nathan Quick

2015	Logan Adams	Finnmark Platform, South Barents Sea
	Jade Bujard
	Daniel Conlin
	Duncan MacIntosh
	Tim Shane

2014	Jordy Babineaux	Noord-Holland Platform, Schagen, Netherlands
	Samuel Ely
	Nick Geyer
	Jolie Helm
	Daniel Sutton

2013	Matt Hebbard	Penobscot Lease, Scotian Shelf, Canada
	Samantha Leone
	Christopher Murley
	Buddy Simonis
	Jin Watkins

2012	Daniel Dudley	Colville Basin, North Slope Alaska
	Joey Grimball
	Chris Hatamian
	Mike Lahey
	Sarah Beth Maxwell

2011	Kaare Egedahl	Great Bight Basin, Australia
	James Lindsay
	Adam Kruse
	Oscar Pacheco
	Nicholas Whitcomb

2010	Ryan Armbruster	Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia
	Javier De Palacios
	Ling Jing
	Josh Reamer
	Lauren Salathe

2009	Mark Etienne	Southwest Barents Sea
	Roark Franklund
	Shawn Kusiyama
	Emily Palmer
	Matt Tinley

2008	Fleur Bases	Viking and Sogn Graben, North Sea
	Derek Hargrave
	John Rosen
	John Salsbury