Mervyn Grist Retires from DTI

It's the end of an era with the retirement from the DTI oil and gas directorate on 30 April 2003 of Mervyn Grist.

Mervyn was team leader in Licensing, Exploration and Development (LED) - part of the Licensing and Consents Unit (LCU) - responsible for development and production in the central North Sea sector. He was very well known and popular within the industry both in the UK and abroad. He joined the DTI in 1992.

Mervyn began his career with BP joining in 1967 following completion of a PhD at London University (Kings College) on the physical chemistry associated with gas plasmas.

In his early years at BP Mervyn worked on combustion recovery techniques for Athabasca oil sands and was involved in several field trials. He then moved to the area of colloid science with a specific interest in the wettability of rock and fluid systems. In the days when the oil price was expected to exceed $40/bbl BP were very keen on the possibility of using surfactant flooding to increase recovery in Forties. Mervyn worked on the engineering design and logistics of this. A full scale trial of the process was undertaken in the Bothamsall field in Nottinghamshire and the practicalities of storing surfactant on the Forties platforms (in the legs) was investigated. Ultimately, however, the oil price never rose to such dizzy heights and the amounts of surfactant that were expected to adsorb on the rock ruled out an economic process. Nevertheless, Mervyn believes that a lot of lessons were learned including the conventional petroleum engineering requirements of such projects and the need to develop appropriate reservoir simulation capability.

Mervyn also worked on gas injection and was involved in the only UK CO2 injection trial to date in the Egmonton field in the East Midlands. Again this was a test of the technology to see if it was appropriate for use offshore. This gas injection experience came in useful when he was later involved in appraising LPG injection in Ninian and Magnus.

Mervyn sees the biggest change that has taken place during his career in the oil industry as the introduction of digital computing. In the late 1960s there was hardly any use of computers, whereas they are now all pervading making it possible to calculate anything!

In retirement, Mervyn says that he will miss his many colleagues and also the Government and industry's "determination to make things happen".

In 2000, Mervyn was delighted to be appointed Honoury Professor in the Petroleum Engineering Department at Heriot Watt University (now Heriot Watt Institute of Petroleum Engineering) for a three year term, so he is continuing with this work. Mervyn is also pleased to have more time to pursue his hobbies of carpentry and observing nature.

To mark his retirement Mervyn's colleagues at the DTI presented him with a limited edition print of Benachie and other gifts, and Mervyn hosted receptions for DTI colleagues and other colleagues within the industry.

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