In October, the SPE Gulf Coast Section (GCS) Young Professionals Program held the 8th Annual PetroBowl Competition at the 2009 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition in New Orleans. PetroBowl is a competition in which universities compete in teams of four against each other to answer questions ranging from the fundamentals of petroleum engineering to the unique and rich history and current events of the industry.
It was the largest competition in PetroBowl history, including four international universities. The competition was fierce between the universities with students chanting their fight songs. The University of Texas student team took the trophy by beating Missouri University of Science & Technology in the final round, becoming the 2009 PetroBowl champions. This was the first championship win for the University of Texas. Brent Vangolen of Colorado School of Mines emerged as the 2009 Most Valuable Player, answering most of the toss-up questions correctly. The judges were Ahmed Abou-Sayed, Greg Hazlett, Susan Howes, Jeanne Perdue, Julio Soriano, Chip Stansbury, and Buddy Woodroof.
The following schools competed for the championship: China University of Petroleum, Colorado School of Mines, King Fahd University, Louisiana State University, Marietta College, Montana Tech, PUC-Rio University, Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, University of Calgary, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, University of Oklahoma, University of Tulsa, and West Virginia University. PetroSkills and EnCana sponsored the event. SPE Delta Section YPs designed the PetroBowl VIII logo and provided volunteers for the event.
2009 PetroBowl champions receive their trophy and prize check from EnCana executives.