A recent in-kind gift to WVU from PE Limited, or Petex, gives students and faculty access to industry software worth more than $6.5 million.
PE Limited is extending its partnership with West Virginia University to ensure students and faculty in the University’s geology and engineering programs have access to the company’s advanced energy production modeling tools.
PE Limited, also known as Petex, is a leader in petroleum engineering and structural geology software, offering technology designed to improve the efficiency of oil and natural gas operations and for modeling and interpretation of geological fault systems.
The company’s latest in-kind software gift — worth more than $6.5 million — benefits academics and research within the geology program at the WVU Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the petroleum and natural gas engineering program at the WVU Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.
Experience using the latest industry software helps make WVU students attractive to prospective employers, ensuring graduates have the skills they need to succeed in the workforce. Eberly College Professor of Geology Jaime Toro said the Petex software is especially beneficial for geology students at the graduate level.
“Our graduate students will be able to learn how to carry out state-of-the-art modeling of subsurface structures in a way that enhances their understanding of the Earth processes and better prepares them for their future careers in science or industry,” Toro said.
Samuel Ameri, professor and chair of the WVU petroleum and natural gas engineering department, said continued support from Petex is a critical component in educating and preparing the next generation of engineers.
The gift provides renewed access to the company’s Integrated Production Modelling software suite, which models a complete oil or gas production system including the reservoir, wells and surface network. Ameri noted that undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty, use this industry-leading software each year.
Petex software donated to WVU enables students to create three-dimensional models, such as this model of folded rocks from Smoke Hole Canyon in southern West Virginia created by WVU geology master’s student Bertrand Gaschot in 2019.
“The Petex platform plays a vital role in advancing both instruction and research across key areas, including reservoir engineering, reservoir simulation, petroleum geology and well log interpretation, stimulation design, and horizontal drilling,” Ameri said. “We are truly grateful to Petex for their continued collaboration and partnership, which significantly enhances the quality and impact of our academic and research programs.”
Petex supports many universities by providing access to its IPM suite. The company’s first software gift to WVU was in 2018.
Software gifts from Petex and other corporate entities are made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.