Upgrade of Youth Day within St. Petersburg International Gas Forum

For four years of successful implementation the project of Youth Day has attracted attention of more than 500 students from 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and even Australia. They had a chance to meet the leading experts of oil and gas industry, to communicate with top managers of world energy companies in off-tie format and to demonstrate their competences in personal and group competitions. This opportunity to visit the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum (SPIGF) is an incredible experience for future industry professionals.

One of project goals is to acquaint talented students with specifics of oil and gas industry development and attract them to work in energy sector. Therefore, in the anniversary year, the team of organizers from Higher Economic School (HES UNECON) prepared surprises and new formats.

This year before coming to St. Petersburg the candidates are invited to study at 3-month online training program named Virtual Academy. They are studying analytical materials, listening to webinars from partner companies’ experts and working on their own research projects. The Virtual Academy has three main functions:

• to share professional knowledge and best case studies from the energy business with the wide audience;
• to select and invite to St. Petersburg 50 best students to participate in the activities of Youth Day within SPIGF;
• to prepare them for the final competition, where they will need the knowledge gained during online training.

According to results of qualifying test, 223 students from all over the world became participants of Virtual Academy. Classes started on April 30, 2019 with an introductory webinar, where the head of the expert group of the project Pavel Metelev told about training process in Academy. And his lecture on the global energy balance allowed participants to set up for serious work.

Within the first training module there were another two webinars:

• May 5, Irina Mironova from PJSC Gazprom spoke with participants about the value chain of natural gas and pricing.
• May 10, Yulia Burman from the German office of Wintershall Dea told about the role of natural gas in the energy transition.

These topics interested students and caused a heated discussion in the chat webinar.

Summing up the knowledge of Module 1, participants should complete the Challenge #1. They need to present in infographics the structure of the energy balance in 1980, 2015 and 2050 and to mention the most important factors that have major influence on the respective energy mix structure.

During the next four modules the students of Virtual Academy will meet online with representatives of Uniper, Schneider Electric, OMV, VNG, Gasunie, Siemens, HES UNECON and ESMT. And the most motivated and talented participants will get a chance to meet them personally at the Gas Forum.