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Friday, 13 August 1999

One of Australia's biggest petroleum exploration and production companies, Santos Ltd, is providing a $25 million sponsorship to the University of Adelaide to establish a world-class School of Petroleum Engineering.

To be known as the Santos School of Petroleum Engineering, it will position the University of Adelaide at the forefront of petroleum research, teaching and industry training.

This means the University will provide high-calibre professionals to the Australian petroleum industry, as well as assisting the industry through leading-edge research and development in all facets of petroleum engineering.

The $25 million sponsorship by Santos is believed to be the largest single industry sponsorship ever given to a public university in Australia.

The sponsorship will:

• lay the foundation for the new School of Petroleum Engineering for at least 20 years
• enable the construction of a new Petroleum Engineering building, with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for University staff and students
• enable the appointment of the new Santos Professor of Petroleum Engineering
• provide almost $5 million worth of scholarships to students undertaking the new undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Petroleum Engineering.

In recognition of this generous sponsorship, the Federal Government has also agreed to contribute $1 million over five years for another professorial appointment.

The University of Adelaide's Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mary O'Kane, says the result of the Santos sponsorship will be "a world-class School producing world-class graduates".

"This will be the pre-eminent School for the South-East Asian region, providing a focus for development of the whole Petroleum Engineering industry.

"The Santos sponsorship is a major contribution, recognising the excellent work carried out by Santos as a leader in the petroleum industry, and also recognising the expertise and reputation of the University of Adelaide as a leader in engineering teaching and research.

"We are honoured to be recognised as the university which can respond to the needs of Santos and the community for world-class graduates with skills in Petroleum Engineering, and research which will be the best of its kind in Australia," Professor O'Kane says.

Construction of the new Santos building will be integrated into the University's current major redevelopment of the lower level of its North Terrace Campus. The School will be fully operational by the year 2001, with the building completed by 2002.

BACKGROUND

The University of Adelaide already has strong connections with Australia's petroleum industry through the National Centre for Petroleum Geology & Geophysics (NCPGG), which is the University's node in the Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre. Some of our Chemical Engineering graduates are leaders in the petroleum industry in South-East Asia.

The State Government of South Australia has recently funded a new Professor of Petroleum Reservoir Properties & Petrophysics, Professor Richard Hillis, who is based at the NCPGG.