Libsen Castillo is a professional engineer with a master’s degree in energy and earth resources and a great deal of hands-on experience in petroleum and reservoir engineering at the leading petroleum company in Venezuela.
The oil industry is the family business in Ms. Castillo’s history; her father worked in oil drilling and production, and Libsen knew from a young age that she wished to enter a similar field. As an undergraduate, she completed a thesis on conventional reservoir studies, and caught the interest of PDVSA in Barinas, Venezuela, which hired her after graduation. Her excellent performance at PDVSA earned her more leadership responsibilities and eventually a scholarship to attend the University of Texas at Austin to earn her master’s degree.
Libsen’s adviser at UT taught geomechanics, and she undertook a graduate project in that area, learning about the design of hydraulic fracturing and how to analyze hydraulic fracturing treatments and make design adjustments. She was able to return to PDVSA in 2009 and contribute even more knowledge and skill, having completed an advanced degree.
At the end of 2011, Libsen Castillo left PDVSA to move to the U.S. with her family. She is looking forward to contributing her engineering knowledge and experience to a new petroleum company in the Houston area.