PhD Projects 2014

University of Aberdeen

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 6 approved projects:

  • Using the intrinsic recovery capabilities of deep-sea and polar ecosystems to reduce the impact of accidental oil release (Supervisors: Ursula Witte, Jim Anderson, Evina Gontikaki) PhD student: Amy Bode
  • Unlocking the intra and sub-basalt hydrocarbon prospectivity West of Shetland (Supervisors: Nick Schofield, David Jolley, Rachel Jamieson and John Underhill (Heriot-Watt University))  PhD student: Jonathan Hardman
  • Characterization of signal disturbance zones surrounding fault structures at seismic scale: toward a seismic strain and damage facies model (Supervisors: David Iacopini, John Imber (Durham), Nick McHardle (ffA))
  • Exploration for hydrocarbons in the economic basement (Supervisors: John Parnell, Stephen Bowden, Alex Brasier)
  • Oil recovery from fractured reservoirs: impact of wettability on spontaneous imbibition (Supervisors: Yukie Tanino, Andy Welch)
  • Resolving the timing of major erosion events along the West Greenland-Baffin-Bylot continental margins (Supervisors: Randell Stephenson, Roderick Brown (Glasgow), Søren B. Nielsen (Aarhus U, DK))  PhD student: Scott Jess

University of Birmingham

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 3 approved projects:

  • Early Eocene Palaeoenvironmental and Tectonic Reconstructions of the Rockall Trough (Supervisors: Tom Dunkley Jones, Steve Jones, Guy Harrington)  PhD student: Ulrike Baranowski
  • Cenomanian-Turonian Palaeoenvironments of NE Brazil Margin (Supervisors: Tom Dunkley Jones, Guy Harrington, Ian Boomer, James Bendle, Haydon Mort (UFPE))
  • Mesozoic Biosequence Stratigraphy of the Wessex Basin, UK (Supervisors: Ian Boomer, James Wheeley, Matt Wakefield (BG Group), Sev Kender (U. Leicester))

Cardiff University

1 PhD award from 2 approved projects:

  • The scale and geometry of differential compaction on continental margins (Supervisors: Tiago M. Alves, Tom G. Blenkinsop)            PhD student: Nick Ward
  • Gas hydrate distribution on tectonically active continental margins: Impact on oil and gas prospectivity (Supervisors: Tiago M. Alves, Tom G. Blenkinsop; Greg F. Moore (University of Hawaii))

University of Dundee

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

  • Predicting and mitigating the impact of iceberg impact and scour on buried product transport links (Supervisors: Michael Brown, Ana Ivanovic (University of Aberdeen))
  • Assessing the impact and mitigation of earthquake hazards on O&G production infrastructure (Supervisors: Ioannis Anastasopoulos, Michael Brown)  PhD student: Katy Oakes

University of Durham

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 6 approved projects

  • Quantitative Controls of Pore Systems in Carbonate-rich Shales (Supervisors: Andrew Aplin, Mark Thomas (Newcastle), Ruarri Day-Stirrat (Shell), Chris Greenwell)
  • Temporal and spatial heterogeneities in the Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay (Supervisors: Howard A. Armstrong, T. Wagner (Newcastle), J. Imber, A. C. Aplin)  PhD student: Elizabeth Atar
  • Microstructural and geomechanical analysis of natural fracture development in low burial rate shale basins (Supervisors: Jonathan Imber, Ken McCaffrey, Andy Aplin, Chris Greenwell (ES), Will Coombs, Charles Augarde, Jon Trevelyan (SECS); Susie Daniels (Geospatial Research Ltd.)
  • Modelling fluid overpressure and earthquake nucleation within shale fault zones (Supervisors: Nicola De Paola, Jeroen van Hunen. Stefan Nielsen. Robert E. Holdsworth, Richard Davies)  PhD student: Tom Snell
  • A reservoir-scale structural reappraisal of onshore Devonian analogues of the Clair Group in the Fair Isle-Shetland region (Supervisors: Bob Holdsworth, Ken McCaffrey, Rob Strachan (Portsmouth), Richard Jones (GRL), Andy Conway (ConocoPhillips))
  • Overpressure as a control on reservoir quality: the Taranaki Basin, New Zealand (Supervisors: Stuart Jones, Jon Gluyas, Peter Kamp (University of Waikato, NZ))  PhD student: Sean O’Neill

University of Exeter (Camborne School of Mines)

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

  • Jurassic Source Rocks in the Lower Saxony Basin, Germany (Supervisors: Steve Hesselbo, Stuart Robinson (Oxford))                         PhD student: Ricardo Celestino
  • Mudrock Petrography Using Advanced Electron Beam Techniques (Supervisors: Steve Hesselbo, Ian Bailey, Duncan Pirrie (Helford Geoscience LLP))

University of Glasgow

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects

  • Dynamics of hydrofracturing and microseismic signals in porous versus tight rocks (Supervisors: Daniel Koehn, Enrique Gomez-Rivas (University of Aberdeen), G. Daniel (Magnitude Baker Hughes), R. Toussaint (CNRS, France))  PhD student: Janis Aleksans
  • Understanding porosity-permeability evolution of basement faults using 4D computed X-ray tomography (Supervisors: Daniel Koehn, Martin Lee)

Heriot-Watt University

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 10 approved projects:

  • Downscaling-Upscaling: A Robust Method of Linking Geomechanical Simulations and Fluid Flow Simulations (Supervisors: Gary Couples, Helen Lewis, Jingsheng Ma)
  • Prediction of flow through fractures and maximising recovery under geological uncertainty and geomechanical constraints (Supervisors: Vasily Demyanov, Gary Couples, Sebastian Geiger, Dan Arnold)
  • Quantification of hydraulic fracturing induced seismic risks using a probabilistic data assimilation approach (Supervisors: Ahmed H. Elsheikh, Gary Couples. Mike Christie)
  • Bots in Rocks: Intelligent Rock Deformation for Fault Rock Petrophysical Properties (Supervisors: Helen Lewis, David Flynn, Jim Somerville)
  • Evaluating the role that structural inheritance and crustal heterogeneity plays in controlling the evolution of prospective basins of the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) (Supervisors: John Underhill, Rachel Jamieson)  PhD student: Rachael Hunter
  • Development of a SUNTANS Baroclinic Model for 3D Oil Pollution Tracking (Supervisors: David Woolf, Susana Baston, Rob Harris, Karl Stephen, Venki Venugopal (University of Edinburgh))
  • Well Test Interpretation in Unconventional (Tight and Shale) Gas Reservoirs (Supervisors: Mahmoud Jamiolahmady, Jim Somerville)
  • Environmental assessment of deep-water sponge fields in relation to oil and gas activity: a west of Shetland case study (Supervisors: J. Murray Roberts, Tony Gutierrez (microbiology), Mark Hartl (ecotoxicology). Project advisors: Lea-Anne Henry (invertebrate biology) & Ted Henry (ecotoxicology)  PhD student: Johanne Vad
  • Evaluating the resilience of deepwater systems to recover from oil spills (Supervisors: Tony Gutierrez, Ian Head (Newcastle); Collaborators: Robert Gatliff (BGS), Jeffrey Polton (NOC), Alejandro Gallego and Eileen Bresnan (MSS))
  • Unravelling the structural controls and consequent feedbacks on the Permian and Mesozoic depositional systems in the Southern North Sea  (Supervisors: John Underhill, Rachel Jamieson)  PhD student: Ross Grant

Imperial College London

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 8 approved projects:

  • Fast methods for evaluating impact of heterogeneity and optimising recovery by tertiary carbon dioxide injection (Supervisors: Peter King, Ann Muggeridge, Gillian Pickup (Heriot-Watt University))
  • Magmatism and continental breakup in the South Atlantic (Supervisors: Jenny Collier, Lidia Lonergan, Paul Bellingham (ION-GX))
  • Next generation reservoir simulation for complex reservoirs (Supervisors: Matthew Jackson, Sebastian Geiger (Heriot-Watt University; HWU), Chris Pain)  PhD student: Hossam Osman
  • The influence of salt tectonics on slope channel complexes – implications for oil field development (Supervisors: Lidia Lonergan, Mike Mayall)
  • Pore-space imaging of structure and displacement in unconventional reservoirs (Supervisors: Martin Blunt, Peter Lee (University of Manchester))
  • Numerical Modelling of Hydraulic Fracturing in Naturally Fractured Rock using a 3D FEMDEM/CFD coupled approach (Supervisors: J-P. Latham, C.C. Pain, J. Xiang ) PhD student: Asiri Obeysekara
  • Visualisation and modelling of gas injection processes in 3D (Supervisors: Sam Krevor, Ann Muggeridge, Tara Laforce (ICL and CSIRO))
  • Dynamic Subsidence, Continental Uplift and Sedimentary Deposition to West Africa’s Passive Margin (Supervisors: Gareth Roberts, Alastair Fraser, Jerry Jarvis (Tullow))PhD student: Bhavik Lodhia

Keele University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 3 approved projects:

  • Climatic cyclicity and environmental interactions in arid continental basins: The Leman Sandstone, Southern North Sea (Supervisors: Stuart M Clarke, Jamie Pringle, P. Richards (BGS)) PhD student: Molly Watson
  • The Energetics of Hydraulic Fracturing: How far, how high, how best? (Supervisors: Rachel Westwood, Peter Styles, Gareth Digges La Touche (Golder Associates))
  • Fault geometry and fault-zone development in mixed carbonate/clastic successions: Implications for reservoir management (Supervisors: Stuart M Clarke, Ian Stimpson, A.G. Leslie (BGS), R. Haslam (BGS))

University of Manchester

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 7 approved projects:

  • Linking sedimentological, stratigraphic and diagenetic processes to understand unconventional reservoirs: the Upper Jurassic Vaca Muerta Shale, Neuquen Basin, Argentina (Supervisors: Stephen Flint, Kevin Taylor, Gonzalo Veiga, University of La Plata, Argentina)
  • Mineral transformations in siliceous mudstones and implications for shale reservoir properties: the Miocene Monterey Formation, California (Supervisors: Kevin Taylor, Roy Wogelius, Andy Aplin (Durham))
  • 3D multi-scale imaging of experimental fracture generation in shale gas reservoirs (Supervisors: Julian Mecklenbergh, Ernie Rutter, Peter Lee, Kevin Taylor)
  • Developing better reservoir models for Early Palaeozoic, (pre land plants), mixed continental/marine depositional systems, with improved reservoir characterisation and architectural input (Supervisors: Jonathan Redfern, David Hodgetts, Brian Williams, Annette George (University of Western Australia))  PhD student: Ginny-Marie Bradley
  • Pore-scale investigation of multiphase flow in carbonate rocks (Supervisors: Cathy Hollis, Nima Shokri)
  • Shelf edge processes and reservoir architecture on high-sedimentation rate clastic/volcanic basin margins, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand (Supervisors: Mads Huuse, Steve Flint, Rufus Brunt, Gerome Calves (University of Toulouse))  PhD student: Eoin Dunlevy
  • Regional tectonostratigraphy of the pre-salt in the Benguela-Namibe Basins, Angola (Supervisors: Stefan Schroeder, Jonathan Redfern)  PhD student: Nathan Rochelle-Bates

Newcastle University

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 3 approved projects:

  • Advanced characterization of high-sulphur source rock-oil systems (Supervisors: Thomas Wagner, Martin Jones, Christian März, Kevin Taylor (Manchester), Rob Newton, Simon Poulton (Leeds))
  • Fundamentals of hydrocarbon inclusions in carbonate diagenetic cements (Supervisors: Cees van der Land, Martin Jones, Joyce Neilson (Aberdeen))
  • Ultrasound spectrometry of the aggregation of asphaltenes during the formation of water-in-oil emulsions (Supervisors: Geoffrey Abbott, Nick Parker, Christopher Vane (BGS))  PhD student: Aleksandra Svalova

University of Nottingham – University of Birmingham partnership

2 approved projects:

  • Achieving effective and low-impact production of heavy oil (Supervisors: Sean Rigby, Joseph Wood (Birmingham))
  • Novel characterization methods for pore systems of seal rocks in reservoirs used for downhole hydrogen production and storage (Supervisors: Sean Rigby, Matthew Hall)

University of Oxford

2 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 8 approved projects:

  • Structural and depositional controls on shale gas resources in the UK (Supervisors: Joe Cartwright, Mike Hough (BGS), Laura Benfield (BP))  PhD student: Victoria Elliott
  • Quantifying the role of groundwater in hydrocarbon systems using noble gas isotopes (Supervisors: Chris Ballentine, Gideon Henderson, Barbara Sherwood Lollar (University of Toronto))
  • Using noble gas isotopes to develop a mechanistic understanding of shale gas processes (Supervisors: Chris Ballentine, Gideon Henderson)  PhD student: David Byrne
  • Efficient local-scale modelling of wave propagation in complex axisymmetric media (Supervisors: Tarje Nissen-Meyer, Karin Sigloch, Johan Robertsson (ETH Zurich))
  • Coupled flow of water and gas during hydraulic fracture in shale (Supervisors: Christopher W. MacMinn, Joe Cartwright)
  • Calcite-Aragonite Seas and porosity prediction: A New Approach (Supervisors: Rosalind Rickaby, Hugh Jenkyns, Andy Gale (University of Portsmouth))
  • Are non-marine organic-rich shales suitable exploration targets? (Supervisors: Stuart Robinson, Steve Hesselbo (University of Exeter))
  • Anomalous compaction and lithification during early burial in sedimentary basins (Supervisors: Joe Cartwright, Bruce Levell, Claudia Bertoni)

Royal Holloway University of London

1 PhD position awarded (highlighted in blue) from 2 approved projects:

  • New methods for maximising shale permeability and minimising risk during hydraulic fracturing (Supervisors: Agust Gudmundsson, Peter Burgess, Philip Meredith (University College London))  PhD student: Nathanial Forbes-Inskip
  • Developing reservoir presence probability mapping using stratigraphic forward modelling (Supervisors: Peter Burgess, David Waltham)

University of Southampton / National Oceanography Centre (NOC)

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 8 approved projects:

  • Active fault kinematics during non-volcanic rifting in East Africa (Supervisors: Derek Keir, Jon Bull)
  • Integrated analysis of a marine controlled source electromagnetic dataset, well logs and seismic data collected from methane hydrate deposits in the Gulf of Mexico (Supervisors: Karen Weitemeyer, Tim Minshull, Angus Best)
  • Base and heavy metal mobilisation from black shales during hydraulic fracturing (Supervisors: John Marshall, Damon Teagle, David Smallman, Anne Stringfellow, David Sanderson)  PhD student: Charlotte Aldred
  • Structure and formation of the south Porcupine Basin from wide-angle seismic profiles (Supervisors: Tim Minshull, Tim Reston (Birmingham), Rose Edwards)
  • Understanding how turbidity currents interact with the seafloor and oil and gas pipelines (Supervisors: Peter Talling, Matthieu Cartigny, Esther Sumner, Michael Clare (Fugro Geohazards)  PhD student: Jamie Hizzett
  • Are deep-water fold belts on passive margins different from fold belts in orogenic belts? (Supervisors: Frank Peel, Lisa McNeill, David Sanderson)  PhD student: Xiaodong Yang
  • Pan-Arctic modelling of the fate of potential spills from off-shore drilling and transportation (Supervisors: Ekaterina Popova, Tevgeny Aksenov, Joel Hirschi, Andrew Yool)
  • Joint elastic-electrical anisotropy in fractured reservoir rocks (Supervisors: Angus Best, Karen Weitemeyer, Tim Minshull, Mark Chapman (Edinburgh))

University of Strathclyde

1 PhD position awarded from 3 approved projects:

  • Predicting fault permeability at depth: data pooling from multiple field sites (Supervisors: Zoe Shipton Rebecca Lunn)                        PhD student: Silvia Sosio De Rosa
  • What happens inside a frack? Particle-laden fluid transport in fracture networks (Supervisors: Zoe Shipton, Mark Haw )
  • Predicting fault permeability at depth: incorporating natural permeability variability in numerical models of fault zones (Supervisors: Rebecca Lunn, Grainne El Mountassir, Zoe Shipton)