A gold medal minted in Italy and €300,000 in prize money have been awarded a Canadian reservoir engineering professor and an American using magnets to determine the richness of oil and gas.

Two Nobel laureates helped Italian oil company Eni decide the 2009 Eni Award for New Frontiers in Hydrocarbons would go to Alan Marshall of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory of Florida State University and to Tony Settari, Oil Engineering Chair at Calgary University.

Some 490 scientists and researchers worldwide had nominated candidates.

Marshall has, since 1993, directed a program using high-magnetic fields to devise theories, techniques and applications for mass spectrometry. His research has focused on advanced analytical systems that detail the components of complex chemical substances like oil (and blood). His very-high resolution mass spectrometry techniques, or FT-ICR, has ID’d 50,000 components.

Settari, already a known reservoir and simulation brain, is known for his analysis of fracturing and geo-mechanical processes in reservoirs. He receives the award for developing innovative techniques for geomechanical simulation of phenomena occurring during hydrocarbon extraction.

“Thanks to Settari's techniques, oil companies are able to optimise production costs and approach reservoir engineering in an environmentally sustainable manner,” a statement said.

Awards worth over €400,000 were also presented this year for renewable and unconventional energy, protectiing the environment and debuting researchers.

Tags: Eni Norge AS