NOVEMber 2008 issue
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Student Column
Petroleum Concentration Sees Strong Growth
While many U of C students see the petroleum concentration as an incredible opportunity,
others pine for increased hard-rock coverage
Editor’s Note. Anthony Stadnyk is studying for a bachelor of science degree in geology at the University of Calgary and is set to graduate in 2011. He is The PEGG’s new geoscience columnist from the university.
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BY ANTHONY STADNYK |
It’s an alarming combination of facts. Growing Asian economies are creating huge new oil demand. At the same time, global production of oil is projected to peak and flatline in the near future.
Recent estimates by the American Petroleum Institute assert that maintaining a three per cent increase in economic growth over the next few decades will require the world to expand oil supplies by 50 per cent.
Since it is impossible to simply create new oil, the only way out of this enormous challenge — assuming the reliance on oil continues — will lie in the application of new technologies by geologists and other industry professionals.
But a real barrier towards this solution is the impending shortage of geoscientists in the workforce. For example, in 2003 only 3,381 undergraduate geologists graduated in the United States — which is down 55 per cent from the 1984 level of 7,524.
These realities backdrop the newly created petroleum geology concentration at the University of Calgary.
Touted as the only concentration of its kind in Canada, petroleum geology has quickly become tremendously popular among undergrads. While just three students graduated from petroleum geology concentration in its first year, there are already 19 students set to graduate over the 2008/2009 academic term. This amounts to over 40 per cent of the 45 geology graduates the school produces each year.
“There’s been a lot of support for this concentration,” says Dr. Michelle Spila, a popular instructor and the undergraduate program manager in the Department of Geoscience. “We have shelves and shelves of donated drill core. Industry has sent big support to the university.
And while the concentration is academically rigorous, the big draw for students is its practicality.
“This is an incredible opportunity,” says Connie Craig, a third-year petroleum geology student who has previously worked for Penn West Energy Trust. “There are a lot of resources here and I’m happy to learn something that will pertain to my career.”
The upcoming shortage of workers in oil and gas is a major hurdle for the industry, so petroleum geologists are certainly needed. The mining industry, however, is looking at massive shortages of its own. The Ontario Mining Association recently said that the sector will need to find an additional 92,000 new employees nationally over the next decade.
But, like all programs in the Department of Geoscience, the petroleum geology concentration was designed to provide a good level of general know-ledge for work in all disciplines.
Says Dr. Charles Henderson, P.Geol., a senior professor in the department: “It is important to note that our petroleum program does not concentrate only on petroleum geology, but rather is a concentration of new courses taken mostly in fourth year, following a strong foundation in all geoscience disciplines.
“All of our geology graduates, regardless of whether they took the concentration, walk out of here with a strong foundation in all aspects of geology and have had the opportunity to experience rocks of all types. This is why many oil companies acknowledge the quality of our graduating class.”
Despite this focus on well-roundedness, the Department of Geoscience is still faced with the challenge of meeting the demand for additional courses in solid-earth processes, tectonics and mineralogy.
“A lot of that has to do with the dynamics of the department,” says Joel Cubley, a PhD student who works with metamorphic core complexes in southeast British Columbia. “There are not enough hard rock courses, or the staff to teach them.”
“Even though I enjoy sedimentary geology, I feel our school shouldn’t be so one dimensional,” says Keegan Stoyles, a third-year geology student and APEGGA university student member.
The Department of Geoscience is now addressing the issue head on, having recently hired a new mineralogist, a new metamorphic petrologist and a new structural geologist to edge up its hard rock squad.
“The current leadership is doing a good job of addressing the weakness,” says Mr. Cubley. “The hard rock faculty here has a good reputation and there is a real international contingent that’s coming here to work with people like Dr. David Pattison, P.Geol. But we have to be sure that this big lingering interest in mining is satisfied.”
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