In 2014, IHS Energy donated state-of-the-art software to Midwestern State University's petroleum geology program that enabled students to become familiar with the same programs used by oil and gas industry professionals. The company's gift included a three-year license and maintenance agreement that were valued at approximately $4 million. IHS has renewed the software licenses through October 2018 - a gift of more than $2.1 million.

Dr. Scott Meddaugh, the Robert L. Bolin Distinguished Professor of Petroleum Geology in MSU's Kimbell School of Geosciences, said that the donation of industry standard software enables students to become familiar with workflows and tools that are used throughout the oil and gas industry. "The availability of the software allows more realistic classroom and lab projects for our classes. This experience gives them an advantage when companies interview potential hires," Meddaugh said.

The IHS software is used in a number of undergraduate research projects and classes including Petroleum Geology and Applied Petroleum Geology as well as graduate-only courses including Advanced Formation Evaluation. Meddaugh said that graduate students also use the software as part of their required thesis research. "Without the software, these students would need considerably more time to complete the geological maps and cross sections that are key elements of their reservoir characterization and stratigraphy-focused research projects," he said.

The gift consists of 20 network licenses for Kingdom and Petra, and 20 licenses for WellTest and Harmony software. The Kingdom Suite and Petra integrated software evaluates potential oil and gas reservoirs and helps plan field development. WellTest helps users conduct gas and oil pressure transient analysis and serves as an everyday well-test data interpretation tool. HS Harmony is a comprehensive engineering application for analyzing oil and gas well performance and evaluating reserves.

IHS provides information, insight and analytics to businesses and governments around the world. Visit www.ihs.com for more information.