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UCL's Deep-Water Research Group (DWRG) creates knowledge transfer between research and the hydrocarbon industry. Oil companies use the DWRG's research results to generate improved in-house computer-generated hydrocarbon reservoir models, allowing them to manage, develop and value their reservoirs better. The same companies also use the research to run training courses for employees, including reservoir engineers and managers, leading to improved understanding and more informed decision-making about the management of hydrocarbon reservoirs. Improved management and development of reservoirs ultimately leads to oil companies being able to extract a greater amount of oil.
University of Leeds Research has been used by its specialist Turbidites Research Group (TRG) to underpin consultancy work for oil companies that has, in turn, steered them to make high-value decisions. Examples include an oil well placement, the development of an oil field, and a decision to only partially develop another. The TRG has been funded by 14 oil companies since 1992, and its annual income has risen from £125k/yr prior to 2008 to £380k/yr during the REF period. It is estimated that the cumulative value of oil company decisions based on TRG research exceeds several hundred million dollars. Following the impact, Leeds have replicated the TRG business model to form new specialist industrial research groups that have each generated further impact.
Research by the University of Aberdeen's research group on Stratigraphic Evolution of large Igneous Provinces (StratLIP) has guided the successful development of new oil-producing fields in the North East Atlantic that were previously not in production, aided by an improved understanding of the geological context within which the reserves were discovered. The research has informed every phase of exploration and development by several of the UK's leading energy companies, in one project saving the partners £600m and proving the financial viability of a major oilfield development deemed important to the UK's oil supply. The findings have contributed to an increase in the UK's energy security and the strength of the UK's oil and gas industry, especially in the context of the local economy of Aberdeen, the energy capital of Europe.
Bristol researchers have been working with the oil and gas industry to develop new methods for monitoring and modelling deformation in oil and gas reservoirs. Industry and NERC funded research has led to the development of (i) novel techniques that better utilise microseismicity monitoring of petroleum reservoirs, and (ii) new software which couples geomechanical deformation and fluid flow with geophysical observations. The research has led directly to development and improvement of commercial software to enhance exploration efforts and minimise costs. Bristol software is now used by several multinational companies worldwide and its development has led to a successful start-up company.
Failure to predict and control geological overpressures during drilling can lead to operational delays costing millions of pounds, or to blow-outs causing serious environmental damage and costs running into billions. Using methodologies, knowledge and data analysis techniques developed at Durham, a spin-out, GeoPressure Technology (GPT; now Ikon Geopressure) (20 employees, revenues 2008-13: £10.8 million) has become a niche supplier to the global oil industry of expertise, training and software ("PressureView") that predicts and assess the causes of overpressure. GPT consultancy has had particular impacts for companies drilling in the North Sea, offshore Canada, Norway and West Africa where overpressure represents a significant technical challenge.
This case study describes the economic impact to sections of the hydrocarbons industry resulting from research into deep water sediment transport and depositional processes. turbidites.org is a multi-institutional, interdisciplinary research platform based at University of Aberdeen, which takes a multi-scale approach to understanding deep-water depositional systems and their significance as a stratigraphic record of long-term environmental change. The resulting research outputs have been applied to deep-water hydrocarbon reservoir prediction.
Our research has had a global impact on understanding the tectonic development and fill of rift basins, providing a predictable spatial and temporal template for the distribution of hydrocarbon reservoir rocks. The models are embedded in exploration workflows of global oil companies and have influenced recent exploration success (North and East Africa, Atlantic conjugate margins). Translational research on 3-D rift basin outcrop data capture and resulting software licencing has improved reservoir modelling, optimising positioning of $100m wells. Field-based training for several hundred oil industry staff since 2005 has ensured in-depth knowledge transfer.
Newcastle University research on biodegraded petroleum systems has had a number of broad reaching impacts on the oil industry (ExxonMobil, Statoil, Woodside, and Shell), related companies (Permedia) and regulators (Alberta Energy Regulator). A new approach to oil viscosity determination was developed, which directs well-placement in biodegraded oilfields to lower viscosity areas, resulting in improved production of heavy oil. Software tools developed to model oil composition have been incorporated into proprietary in-house, oil company reservoir simulations. A spin-out company was founded, Gushor Inc., which provides services to the heavy oil sector and was recently acquired by Schlumberger. Collectively the research from Newcastle University has saved oil companies hundreds of millions of pounds by avoiding poorly producing viscous zones in biodegraded reservoirs.
Since Prof Blunt's appointment as a Professor of Petroleum Engineering at Imperial College in 1999, his Consortium on Pore-Scale Modelling has developed numerical tools to analyse the pore spaces of reservoir rocks, predict multiphase flow properties and determine field-scale impacts on oil recovery. This technology is now exploited by at least two start-up service companies with annual revenue of around $20 million, and is widely employed by major oil companies, leading to better reservoir management and improved oil and gas recovery. Statements submitted from just one company (Kuwait Oil Company, KOC) suggest a benefit of $100 million from efficiency savings and improved recovery in a just single field.
The data generated from research undertaken by ERPE has enabled BP to leverage an investment of $125M for full field implementation of Lo-Sal® EOR technology in the Clair Ridge Field, west of Shetland.
This research has provided BP with a step change in understanding of how to maximise oil recovery and production. Low Salinity Water Flooding has been shown to increase oil recovery by an average of ~16% when compared to standard "High Salinity" water flooding. Based on this work, BP made a strategic decision in September 2012 to use Low Salinity Water Flooding as their default position for field development, by adopting this significant development in water-flooding technology.