Farrokh Alikhani, speaking Tuesday, at a meeting of the strategic council for the Fifth Oil Engineering Olympiad, said the event could benefit the entire industry. “The key point is that the results of these Olympiads must be practical,” he said. “When the event is held, its output should address a specific problem in the oil industry.”

Sharing his own experience working with universities, Alikhani recalled that in 2019 and 2020, he and a group of industry experts proposed ideas and held constructive sessions with universities, including Sharif University of Technology. “The outcome was that if the industry can transparently present its challenges, universities can offer solutions. Oil is inherently a skill-based industry, and many blind spots may remain hidden for years, but with scientific methods, they can be identified and resolved,” he said.

Industry perspective shift

Alikhani noted that NIOC has revised its approach in recent years. “In the past, the company was more product-oriented and focused on production levels. But starting in 2019, we worked to shift the perspective from ‘product’ to ‘asset,’” he said. He added that even simple questions, such as the number of wells, often received conflicting answers at different management levels, revealing a lack of shared terminology. “It took more than a year to correct this and shift the industry’s perspective,” he said.

He added that in upstream operations and reservoir management, international models for reservoir assessment have existed since 2007, while in Iran practices remain largely experience-based. “If we can define areas such as drilling, well challenges, and key success factors within a shared scientific and technical framework, then Olympiads will have real impact,” Alikhani said.

He emphasized that his department has already identified challenges related to wells and their impact on production, and even trained specialists for each case. “If we can structure this process, as seen in Europe’s water injection management or in the practices of international companies, we can solve a large part of our production and drilling challenges,” he said.

Alikhani concluded by saying he expects scientific Olympiads to lead to solutions for real industry problems. “If that happens, their impact will be lasting and become part of the oil industry’s identity. Otherwise, their effect will be limited,” he said.