Oil & Gas - Maximising Recovery Programme (formerly SHARP) IOR Views

Introduction

The programme started in 2000 and will draw to a close in 2008. Thirty research projects were funded, along with one Senior Research Fellowship and seventeen studentships. The majority of projects have come to a close and the benefits to the UK economy are already becoming apparent. These include improved oil and gas reserves forecasting, innovative approaches to finding and using alternate energy sources (such as methane hydrates below the seabed) and a better deep-sea environment understanding (like hazards on the seabed).

The collaborative aspect of the programme has also generated additional benefits in the close working relationships continuing long after the original grant period has ended. Almost all of the projects have generated additional funds from industry partners or follow on grants from the research council. Some of the results generated have been applied to other research areas and several spin-off companies have been formed to exploit the research results.

The research was grouped into three themes, described simply as deep structure, shallow processes and fluid flow.

Deep Structure

Exploration at passive margins has moved into increasingly deep water environments in the past decade. Study of margin evolution and structure, including the nature of the continent ocean boundary and factors controlling the architecture of overlying sedimentary basins; have aided exploration in several parts of the world.

A team led by Cambridge and Liverpool universities used seismic imaging and modelling to identify the crust structure in the Rockall Faroes area. This work has improved the quality of images of basins underlying the Palaeogene basalt cover. The team has also created a new model for the ocean spreading process that has been taken up by the industry partners.

Figure 1: A model of oceanic spreading. This process is being modelled in detail by the iSIMM team. Image from Nick Kusznir, University of Liverpool.

The UK oil industry has made use of this technique in the region but this is transferable technology and oil prospectors in the Gulf of Mexico have not been slow to adopt it in attempts to image the structure of basins overlain by salt.

In the area offshore Brazil a team from Oxford University investigated the influence of sediment from the Amazon River deposited on the ocean margin. They found that the weight of sediment has deformed the crust in the area, forming a sediment filled depression on the continental margin. This work has also produced unexpected benefits – the images of the sediments and crust have also identified sound speed boundaries in the water column, providing data on the water structure for oceanographers to study.

At the University of Durham a team has investigated the influence that basement structure has on overlying sedimentary basins. This work has generated several follow on projects and also a small business (SME) to maximise the commercial aspects of the work.

Sedimentary Processes

Research has also been undertaken into the character of sedimentary reservoir rocks in a deep marine setting. At the University of Bristol, researchers looked at turbidite beds in northern Italy, and have coupled field work with laboratory experiments looking at flow separation and the nature of deposition from partitioned flows. Also in the laboratory, a team at Leeds and Imperial College, London have created a model sinuous channel and watched a sediment flow as it moved around the meanders, imaging the distribution of sediment in the channel with time.

Figure 2: Modelling of the changing thickness of sand deposits within a sinuous submarine channel with time (colours show thickness, with reds/yellows thickest and blues/purples thinnest). Image from Jeff Peakall, University of Leeds.

Unexpectedly, they found that the forces that control fluid motion in submarine channels cause flow to rotate in the opposite direction to those in rivers with obvious implications for prediction of reservoir location in deep water channelised systems.

To the southwest of the UK, researchers have used sidescan and 3D seismic images of the seabed to identify the hazards associated with slope failure and have created a map of the region showing such geohazards. This hazard assessment is invaluable to communications companies running cables across the Atlantic, and can also be applied to areas of oil exploration.

Fluid Flow

Fluid flow in the NW UK margin has been studied at Aberdeen and The Open University, where the timing of maturation has been determined using fluid inclusion studies and the likely pathways for hydrocarbon migration identified.

At Leeds University, a team created a computer model of a basin filled by sediment and then modelled fluid flow once the basin had been faulted.

At Nottingham University, a revolutionary technique for ‘fingerprinting’ oil residues allows geologists to match the oil found in a reservoir with remnants within the original source rock. This work has also had applications in other fields including identification of steroid abuse in sport.

Pushing the Margins - Future Work

The Ocean Margins LINK Programme has forged close links between academia and the telecommunications and hydrocarbons industries, developing new techniques for locating oil and gas reserves and also improving understanding of the ocean floor and the geohazards.

The programme might now be winding-up but participants will continue to build on the links that have been made. The programme committee are considering proposals for another thematic research programme that will involve collaborative funding. The added value of the collaborative work has generated positive comments from both academic and industry partners and the fact that several companies have been set up on the basis of research carried out during the Ocean Margins Programme and most of the projects have generated further funding for ongoing research work.

Results from the programme projects have been demonstrated at a conference in November 2006, with an associated Special Publication of the Geological Society due at the end of this year. A public event will be held at The Royal Society on the 15th February 2007.