Pupils from Bucksburn Academy triumphed in the north-east heat of an online competition which sees pupils around the world take on the role of oil barons.
Run and organised by industry skills body, OPITO, the annual Petrochallenge event was held at Robert Gordon University’s School of Computer Studies.
More than 170 S5 and S6 pupils from 13 secondary schools across the north-east competed against each other for the regional crown.
The winning team, Oil Me Up, was made up of four S6 pupils, Samantha Mitchell, Hannah Robertson, Charlie Innes and Ross Yule.
They will now have to wait for the results of a series of other regional heats before they find out whether they can go forward to represent the UK in the international final in January next year.
Larraine Boorman, UK managing director of OPITO, said: “I’m delighted by the enthusiasm shown by the students taking part with pupils really embracing the challenges faced by real-life oil and gas operators.
“Petrochallenge is an opportunity for youngsters to gain a hands-on understanding of the oil and gas sector.
“By facilitating direct links between schools and industry, pupils can see exactly how their subjects can impact on future career choices and we are able to increase engagement and interest in the industry both as a source of further study and as a potential career.
“I would like to congratulate all the teams who took part for their hard work and determination to succeed which helped to make the competition such a success.”
Petrochallenge is designed to encourage students to consider a career in the oil and gas sector, helping to contextualise school subjects, giving pupils an idea of how they can be applied in a real-life industrial setting.
Starting with $200million in funds, the students were challenged to maximise the return on investment by finding oil or gas and investing in other teams’ opportunities.
The competitors use a web-based learning tool to study seismic surveys, bid for licences, farm out shares of licences to other teams, compete to get rigs, contract service providers, and choose where to drill wells in a fictitious province.
The UK champions will face fierce competition from other finalists from schools around the globe including the Faroe Islands, Norway, Greenland, Denmark, the US and Canada in the competition’s international final.
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