Funding for a new three year project entitled 'Controls on mid- and late Jurassic subtle trap distribution and hydrocarbon prospectivity, UK Northern North Sea' has been won by Dr John Underhill of the Predictive Geocience Research Unit, Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Edinburgh. The project will be funded by the UK government's Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) under the Realising Our Potential Award (ROPA) scheme. ROPA aims to fund strategic and applied research projects proposed by researcher workers with a track record of conducting industrially relevant research and of close collaboration with industry.
The project, relevant to the search for new hydrocarbon prospects in the North Sea, will focus on improving our understanding of the stratigraphic and geographic distribution of poorly documented but potential, subtle reservoirs in the Jurassic of the North Sea. The project will address:
- the nature and extent of fault scarp degradation - the Ninian Field and the adjacent area will be used initially in this study but results will have significance for a number of analogous settings elsewhere in the Brent Province;
- controls on late Jurassic sand dispersal systems - based on observed erosion of mid-Jurassic and older strata from fields such as Snorre, the project will examine the potential to locate important re-sedimented sandstone units through improved understanding of the controls on sediment dispersal pathways;
- the distribution and internal character of the discontinuous Tarbert Formation sandstones through an integration of seismic and well data.
The Predictive Geoscience Research Unit is a collaborative venture between Edinburgh University and PSTI, with initial PSTI investment having been directed towards the provision of computer workstation capability which will be used in this project. To promote the timely transfer of research results to industry during the course of this ROPA project, Dr Underhill will provide progress reports to all PSTI's Members on a six monthly basis through PSTI's Management Briefs.
For more information on this project and the dissemination of interim results contact Stewart Brown, [Tel: 0131 451 5231. Fax: 0131 451 5232].