The NERC CDT in Oil & Gas is delighted to have been included in a major funding package of £416k from Verus Petroleum, an independent oil company active on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS). The award has been made to Professor John Underhill in the the Institute of Petroleum Engineering (IPE) at Heriot-Watt University to provide direct support for applied geoscience research and training.

The funding will cover frontier basins and UKCS research, support the Ogilvie-Gordon 3D Audio-Visualisation Centre (OGAVC) and include management costs associated with running the NERC CDT in Oil & Gas. The company will now be represented on the CDT’s Industry Advisory Board with immediate effect.

Alan Curran, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Verus Petroleum, said, “Verus Petroleum are pleased to be able to offer this award to Heriot-Watt to support the world class Applied Geoscience research and training being led by Professor Underhill. The initiatives being supported will have a significant bearing on the future of the UKCS exploration and production activities by providing a research base to help us overcome key geological challenges and thus help us to maximise the economic recovery from and extend the life of the mature basin.”

John Underhill, HWU’s Chief Scientist, Professor of Exploration Geoscience and Academic Director of the NERC CDT said, “I am delighted to welcome Verus Petroleum as a valued industry partner to support the management of the CDT. In so doing, they take the number of companies supporting the program into double figures, something that is a testament to the continued attraction of the postgraduate training program that has been built and being successfully provided.”