Muscat – A team from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) has won the Middle East edition of the Imperial Barrel Award (IBA), a global geoscience competition organised by American Association of Petroleum Geologists. 

The team successfully retained the IBA title for the third consecutive year at the Middle East level. Following the achievement, the SQU team will represent the region in the global finals scheduled to take place in August in Houston, Texas, United States.

The team also received the Innovation Award, outperforming participants from eight universities representing Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq.

The competition is regarded as one of the leading academic contests in the fields of geoscience and petroleum studies, challenging university teams to analyse subsurface data, assess hydrocarbon reservoirs and develop innovative solutions related to energy resources.

The SQU team comprised Abdulrahman bin Ali Al Awaid, Abdullah bin Mohammed Al Mahrouqi, Sarah bint Nasser Al Saadiyah and Muzna bint Khalifa Al Qasimi from the Department of Earth Sciences, along with Jassim bin Mohammed Al Aradi from the Department of Petroleum and Chemical Engineering at the College of Engineering.

The team was supervised and trained by Dr Mohammed Farfour, Associate Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences, with support from Dr Musab bin Shaker Al Sarmi, Assistant Professor in the same department at the College of Science. Khadija bint Abdullah Al Maimaniya from Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) also contributed as an assistant trainer, providing industry expertise during the team’s preparation.

Sarah bint Nasser Al Saadiyah said the achievement reflects the dedication and teamwork demonstrated by the students throughout the competition. She noted that the experience allowed the team to apply academic knowledge in a practical setting while competing with leading universities across the region.

She added that retaining the title for the third consecutive year is a source of pride for the university and a strong motivation to intensify preparations for the upcoming international finals.

The victory highlights SQU’s growing reputation in geoscience and petroleum-related disciplines and underscores the role of academic–industry collaboration in preparing Omani students for global scientific challenges.