PhD Projects 2016

University of Aberdeen

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects

  • The thermal maturity, timing, geometric properties and geomechanical controls on fractures in shale multi-layers
  • Oil-filled fractures in fractured basement: Towards a deeper understanding of a new hydrocarbon play West of Shetland (Lancaster Field)
  • Deformation adjacent to mobile evaporite bodies – modelling approaches and outcrop examples from the Alps
  • Extending the life of mature basins in the North Sea and imaging sub-basalt and sub-intrusive structures using seismic intensity monitoring  (Supervisors: Dr Luca De Siena, Dr David Healy, Dr Nick Schofield)  PhD student: Panayiota Sketsiou
  • Unconventional sub-basalt imaging and geological interpretation in terms of porosity/permeability in buried volcanic basins
  • Determining the main controls on fault-associated dolomitisation and their influence on reservoir quality distribution
  • The seismic response of hydraulically-fractured, poorly-consolidated mudstone and sandstone
  • Characterisation of glacigenic reservoirs and landsystems using sedimentology, geomorphology and virtual outcrop mapping (Supervisors: Dr Brice Rea, Prof. John Howell, Dr Matteo Spagnolo, Dr David Cornwell)   PhD student: Bartosz Kurjanski
  • Hydrocarbon prospectivity of the inshore basins along Scotland’s West Coast (Supervisors: Dr Nick Schofield, Prof. Adrian Hartley, Prof. John Howell, Dr David Muirhead, Prof. John Underhill (Heriot-Watt))  PhD student: Laura-Jane Fyfe

University of Birmingham

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

  • A micropalaeontological and sedimentological understanding of Mesozoic cyclic sedimentation
  • Phytoplankton productivity and organic matter export in a marginal sea
  • The Neogene evolution of the NE Atlantic: multi-proxy constraints on stratigraphy, palaeoclimate and palaeogeography  (Supervisors: Dr Steve Jones, Dr James Bendle, Dr Tom Dunkley-Jones)  PhD student: Jonathan Hall

Cardiff University

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

  • Fluid flow paths through sedimentary basins: Implications for exploration in challenging geological environments  (Supervisors: Dr Tiago Alves, Dr Joana Gafeira (BGS))  PhD student: Chantelle Roelofse
  • Megablocks on continental margins and their potential as reservoir units

University of Dundee

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

  • Future Liability for Abandonment Failures
  • Investigating the effect of noise from Oil & Gas activities on the collective behaviour of fish and marine mammals
  • Understanding hydrocarbon impacts on vegetation and detection with remote sensing  (Supervisors: Dr Mark Cutler, Dr Glyn Bengough)  PhD student: Raquel Serrano Calvo

University of Durham

3 PhD positions awarded (highlighted in blue) from 9 approved projects

  • Geomechanics in Digital Rock Analysis
  • Diagenetic Controls of Reservoir Quality in Carboniferous Tight Gas Sandstones
  • Understanding the Controls on Fines Migration in Sandstones  (Supervisors: Prof Chris Greenwell, Dr Nicola de Paola, Dr Pablo Bubillas, Ian Collins (BP))   PhD student: Catriona Sellick
  • Fault-void fills – pervasive and persistent fluid flow pathways in fractured crystalline and carbonate reservoirs
  • Structural geology and geomechanical significance of natural fractures in overburden successions
  • Statistical characterisation of fluvial sandbodies: implications for complex reservoir models
  • Permeability reduction due to salt precipitation in sandstone formations  (Supervisors: Dr Simon Mathias, Dr Stefan Nielsen, Michelle Bentham (BGS))   PhD student: Charlotte Withers
  • Structural and Thermal Evolution of Continent-Ocean Fracture Zones  (Supervisors: Prof Ken McCaffrey, Dr Jeroen van Hunen, Prof Richard Davies (Newcastle), Dr Lara Kalnins)  PhD student: Pavlos Farangitakis
  • From the bottom to the top: identifying natural geological linkages from deep formations to the surface

University of Exeter (Camborne School of Mines)

2 awards

  • An integrated remote sensing-numerical modelling approach for evaluation and optimisation of hydrocarbon reservoir performance
  • Formation-scale changes in clay mineralogy of mudrocks – unravelling the contributions of source terrains, palaeoclimate, and diagenesis
  • Sediment sources across the grain size spectrum
  • Investigating Paleogene strata from Oman and the UAE; new insights from integrated chemostratigraphy, sedimentology and biostratigraphy

University of Glasgow

1 award

  • The formation and evolution of continental rift flank topography and adjacent basins: analysis of the Rukwa-Malawi sector of the East African Rift
  • A New Reservoir Characterisation Tool: A High Resolution Study on the Effect of Increasing Burial Depth and Temperature on the Carbonate Clumped Isotope Palaeothermometer
  • Constraining the thermal histories of the Carboniferous Midland Valley of Scotland: a potential resource for unconventional gas and shale oil?

Heriot-Watt University

3 awards

  • Prediction of flow through fractures and maximising recovery under geological uncertainty and geomechanical constraints
  • Modelling of Geo-mechanical – Hydro-mechanical Coupling in Fractured Reservoirs
  • Development of natural and sustainable bio-dispersants for the Oil & Gas industry
  • Numerical Diagenesis of Reservoir Rocks
  • Bots in Rocks: Intelligent Rock Deformation for Fault Rock Petrophysical Properties
  • Analysis of shale mineralogy and fabric and its induced anisotropic seismic response for hydrocarbon exploration and production.
  • Enhanced Geological Modelling of Turbidites Using Physical Models to Calibrate Erosion and Deposition Processes
  • Evaluating the geological case for carbon dioxide gas storage capacity in depleted fields and saline aquifers
  • Geomechanical, geophysical, and geothermal properties of gas hydrate-bearing permafrost sediments: Macro experiments and micro mechanisms

Imperial College London

3 awards

  • Rapid and Reliable Numerical Tools for Design and Control in Reservoir Engineering
  • Constraining reservoir distribution by linking stratigraphic architecture and sediment mass balance
  • Inversion of downhole self-potential measurements for real-time waterfront imaging in hydrocarbon reservoirs
  • Sedimentology and Thermal history of Carbonate-rich shales (Jura region, France and Switzerland): a dual approach combining fieldwork and clumped isotopes
  • Geological life cycle inventory model development for conventional and unconventional hydrocarbon resources
  • A new sub-grid scale modelling approach for reservoir simulation
  • Pore scale modelling of foam flow in porous media
  • Quantifying the relationship between structural growth rate and the morphology of submarine channels and reservoir facies from shelf-edge to deep water

Keele University

2 awards

  • Structural, stratigraphic and geodynamic controls on the evolution of the Carboniferous succession of northern England and southern Scotland
  • The Permian Whitehill Formation (Karoo Basin, South Africa): deciphering the complexity and potential of an unconventional gas resource
  • Sedimentary controls on secondary processes: Deformation bands in reservoirs
  • Climatic cyclicity and environmental interactions in arid continental basins: The Leman Sandstone, Southern North Sea

University of Manchester

3 awards

  • Assessing the atmospheric impacts of exploration for shale gas in the UK
  • The role of sedimentary process mix and sequence stratigraphy in prediction of reservoir quality and sealing capacity of shelf mudstones: the Magoffin Shale, central Appalachian basin, USA
  • Pore-Scale Imaging of Cross Fault Flow in High Porosity Sandstones using High Pressure-Temperature Fluid Tomography
  • Determination of basin-scale fluid flux to understand porosity distribution within mature carbonate basins
  • Impact of glaciation on arctic petroleum systems: seismic geomorphology and petroleum systems modelling offshore West Greenland and West Norway
  • An Integrated Study for Optimum Designing of Low Salinity Water Composition in Sandstone Reservoirs
  • Syn-sedimentary sliding and substrate deformation in deep-marine lobe systems
  • Deep-marine reservoir heterogeneity in steep-sided minibasins – influence of basin physiography on sedimentological processes and basin-fill character
  • Influence of lithofacies, stress state and fluid saturation on shale permeability, with implications for enhanced effectiveness of shale gas recovery

Newcastle University

1 award

  • The role of asphaltenes in emulsion stabilisation formed by ocean oil spills
  • Evolution of mechanical properties of organic matter in fine grained rocks

University of Nottingham – University of Birmingham partnership

2 awards

  • Novel characterization methods for pore systems of seal rocks in reservoirs used for downhole hydrogen production and storage.
  • Unlocking Natural Catalysis in Subsurface Oil Recovery.
  • In-situ Upgrading of Oil Using Naturally Occurring Clay Minerals and Hydrotalcites.

University of Oxford

3 awards

  • Tracing oil and gas reservoir contributions to shallow fluid systems.
  • The propagation and growth of polygonal faults.
  • Exploiting sparse structures in seismic modelling and inversion.
  • Calcite-Aragonite Seas and porosity prediction: A New Approach (EARTH-16-RR1).
  • Palaeoenvironmental controls on the deposition and development of organic-rich sediments in the North Atlantic: insights into deep-water source rocks?
  • Authigenic mineral corrosion and the origins of secondary porosity in lacustrine carbonate reservoirs: An experimental approach.

Royal Holloway University of London

2 awards

  • New methods for forecasting the permeability of fractured reservoirs. Additional information available here.
  • Methane emissions from the UK gas industry.

University of Southampton

3 awards

  • Active fault kinematics during non-volcanic rifting in East Africa
  • Bayesian analysis of marine controlled source electromagnetic data for a laterally-variable subsurface
  • Characterising the permeability and structure of onshore and offshore chimney structures – relevance to Carbon Capture and Storage
  • Clastic Shelf Plays, Reservoirs and Seals: New insights through the correlation of high resolution seismic imaging of Quaternary and terrestrial analogues
  • Crustal and sedimentary structure of the Eastern Black Sea Basin from long-offset seismic reflection data
  • Reconstructing the ocean floor shape in turbidite basins using seismic interpretation, forward modelling, and outcrop analogues
  • Subsea impact assessment using active and passive acoustic inversion methods
  • Triggering of giant submarine landslides and implications for hydrocarbon structures
  • Unconventionals of Green River Formation Oil Shales

University of Strathclyde

1 award

  • How likely is high-amplitude earthquake shaking for UK oil and gas installations?
  • Crystal growth in pores: creating and controlling fracture.
  • Assessment of potential NORM sources in UK Unconventional Gas Resources.