Rémy DESCHAMPS

Based in Rueil-Malmaison

How did you get to IFP Energies nouvelles?

Armed with a BTS (vocational training certificate) in applied geology, I wanted to work in the oil business. There weren't that many companies to choose from and IFP Energies nouvelles's international influence appealed to me. I sent in a speculative application and started working in 2000 as a sedimentology technician.
After spending six years in the post, I wanted to develop my career further: encouraged by my managers, I applied to undertake an engineering training program that the Human Resources department agreed to finance. So I then spent two years at the Albert-de-Lapparent Geological Institute, before moving on to do a year at the IFP School specializing in Reservoir Geoscience and Engineering. I'm currently working in the Stratigraphy and Sedimentology Department within the Geology - Geochemistry - Geophysics Division.

Tell us about your job?

Tied in with its strategic priorities, IFP Energies nouvelles is developing underground CO₂ storage modeling software taking into account the reactions of CO₂ with the rocks and fluids in situ. Teams are also developing characterization, simulation and monitoring techniques with a view to improving oil field recovery rates.
Upstream of software programming, my work consists in using outcrop and seismic oil data to establish geostatistical parameters for the purposes of modeling fossil reservoirs and understanding their architecture and behavior as a function of the fluids injected.
It is then possible to deduce laws which can be used to study CO₂ injection and also to provide oil companies with a more accurate picture of fields enabling them to optimize production.
In order to develop all these parameters, I work closely with IFP Energies nouvelles's other divisions, as well as external partners within consortiums.

What do you like about your job?

I don't think you just happen upon geology as a career: first and foremost, I love working out in the field and I spend about a month every year doing just that.
But I also appreciate working with cross-disciplinary teams to exploit a variety of scientific approaches to find joint solutions to a given problem. Pooling knowledge in this way is also testimony to just how broad the range of expertise at IFP Energies nouvelles is. Not only is it very rewarding but it also opens up new opportunities to move into fields that may otherwise have been inaccessible.
Another aspect I like is that fact that I'm able to follow the entire chain of a software product, from design to end use.
Finally, IFP Energies nouvelles is recognized internationally in the field of geosciences and industry players and other research centers often turn to us to share our expertise. For us, it's an opportunity to promote our expertise but also enrich it.

What does it take to do your job?

Clearly, you need to have technical knowledge of the field, but you also have to be curious, open to others and new ideas and like researching and gathering information. You have to be able to work within a team and have a degree of autonomy in order to navigate effectively between applied and basic research.
Generally speaking, IFP Energies nouvelles's projects have an industrial purpose. They have fixed deadlines and there are certain objectives that have to be met. However, researchers at IFP Energies nouvelles have genuine freedom to investigate various possible avenues in order to generate results.

Where do you want to go from here?

When you work closely with other teams, you meet different people and ideas often emerge as a result. I'd like to establish new partnerships - both industrial and academic - and develop new projects.

Further information on the Geology, Geochemistry and Geophysics division