To enhance and update knowledge of teaching faculty and strengthen Industry Academia Interface, a three-day workshop on Upstream Petroleum Technology was organised jointly by Petroleum Federation of India, Lovraj Kumar Memorial Trust and ONGC in association with the Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University (PDPU) from November 11-13, 2010 at PDPU, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.

A study tour was organized on November 12, 2010 to an oilfield near Ahmedabad to witness a coiled tubing operation and hot oil circulation job carried out at an oil producing well.

Twenty-two teaching faculty members of 11 educational institutions from Maharashtra, Uttaranchal, Meghalaya, Manipur, Gujarat and Jharkhand participated in the programme.  All participants were provided complimentary boarding and lodging by PDPU and no participation fee was charged.

The six technical sessions were addressed by experts from ONGC, Schlumberger and Weatherford.

Inaugurating the workshop, Mr. A.K. Hazarika, Director (Onshore) ONGC, gave a brief account of the present oil scenario and emphasizing on the need of quality technical manpower in the sector made a presentation on ONGC’s initiatives in carbon management.

Earlier, welcoming participants, Prof. P.K. Banik, Director PDPU complimented PetroFed and ONGC for strengthening Industry Academia Interface and sharing industry experience with teaching faculty for the benefit of students.

Mr. Anand Kumar, former Director (R&D), IndianOil and Trustee LKMT in his address lauded the institutes for their role in developing technical manpower for the oil and gas sector.

Mr. Anil Johari, ED, Asset Manager, ONGC, Ahmedabad apprised participants of the course content of the programme and presented a film on the history of oil developed by ONGC.

The three-day programme concluded with a valedictory session chaired by Mr. N.R. Dave, DG, PDPU in the presence of Mr. S.K. Sharma, GM (HR), ONGC, Ahmedabad and other senior officials of ONGC and PDPU.

Mr. Dave expressed his happiness on the Industry coming forward to share their experience with teaching faculty.  He urged the teachers to see that the institutes do not lag behind in imparting knowledge to students in line with industry requirements and laid emphasis on frequent interaction of academia with industry to update themselves on the needs of the industry.

Mr. S.S. Ramgarhia, Director (P&P), PetroFed proposed a vote of thanks.

The overall programme effectiveness was rated by participants at 79%.