From 29 to 30 October 2018, the SPE Regional Student Summit was held in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The participants were students from all over Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. The purpose of the event was to provide students with opportunities the better understanding of the oil and gas industry in the Caspian region and communicate with students from other sections, exchange ideas, meet with leading experts, and also work together on technical projects.

The opening ceremony of the Summit was held on October 29, at which Adil Mukhanov, a representative of PetroKazakhstan Inc., presented the latest developments in the industry.

The of the unique events was the speech of the President of SPE International Sami Aluaim on the development of the oil industry in the world. He also shared his views on the ways of further development and humanization of the industry. The students also received a unique opportunity to talk with the SPE Regional Director of the Russian-Caspian Region, Aizhana Jussupbekova, who spoke about professional and student associations in the region, outlined goals for the new period, and shared her professional experience with students.

In addition to lectures with the participation of invited specialists, team projects were presented. All participants were in advance grouped into teams so that in each were students from different countries and different specialties. On the first day, the teams had the opportunity to solve two tasks: engineering knowledge and leadership skills.

On the second day of the Summit, October 30, participants listened to speeches from the representative of the Schlumberger company, Ainura Ismailov, and from the chairman of the student direction in the SPE Moscow section, Vlada Streletskaya. Next, the teams presented the technical tasks that they were given before the Summit.

Presentation of team projects, as well as all other events, took place in English to the expert committee. The teams showed a high level of knowledge, a creative approach to problems solving, and a high level of preparation of presentations. The jury members were truly passionate about the works presented.

According to the results of the performance, the strongest teams were awarded first prize diplomas. For the fifth year, the SPE Regional Student Summit has become a unique platform for exchanging experience and strengthening cooperation between the SPE student sections of the region and oil and gas universities in general.