PLEASE COULD YOU BRING THE FOLLOWING PhD STUDENTSHIP OPPORTUNITY TO
THE ATTENTION OF MOTIVATED UNDERGRADUATE & MSc STUDENTS:
Applications are invited for the following fully-funded PhD project
based in The Grant Institute of Earth Sciences at The University of
Edinburgh.
PhD Project Title: Role of Extensional Fault Growth and Linkage in
governing Petroleum Prospectivity in the East Shetland Basin, Northern
North Sea
Edinburgh University PI/Supervisor: Professor John Underhill (Grant
Institute of Earth Science)
Sponsors: Valiant Petroleum PLC and Petrofac Energy Developments Limited
Project Description:
In recent years, there has been an increasing realisation that normal
fault growth and linkage plays an important role in the development of
structural styles and sediment transport pathways in active
extensional systems. Application of fault growth models generated from
modern and ancient rift basins to subsurface systems has further
demonstrated that an understanding of the resultant structural
geometries, depocentres and sediment supply routes can add significant
value in highly-prospective petroleum systems such as the Gulf of Suez
and North Sea rifts.
The aim of this PhD project is to undertake a regional well-calibrated
seismic interpretation of highly prospective Middle-Upper Jurassic
(pre- and syn-rift) sequences in United Kingdom Continental Shelf
(UKCS) Quadrant 211 of the East Shetland Basin (ESB) in the Northern
North Sea, where two (Triassic and Jurassic) phases of rifting have
previously been identified. The project?s focus will be to understand
how Valiant & Petrofac?s core assets and development projects (West
Don, Don South West, and Causeway) lie within a regional framework of
extensional fault growth.
The study will concentrate upon developing an understanding of the
propagation history of normal faults located in and around the
established oilfields (such as the Don cluster), where new fields have
recently been developed (e.g. Causeway and Merlin) and where
prospectivity remains high. The role of structural feedback arising
from fault lengthening and displacement increase during the extension
will be assessed throughout this strategic area of the ESB. This will
include an evaluation of the role played by syn-sedimentary regional
and local cross-fault elements (such as footwall and hangingwall
release faulting) in determining trap size and geometry.
An additional, important aspect of the project will be to investigate
the petroleum migration history of the basin with particular emphasis
on faults seal (or leakage) and how their behaviour may be governed
within or between the various prospective reservoirs in the area,
namely, the Upper Jurassic, Humber Group (Magnus and Kimmeridge
Sandstone Members), Middle Jurassic, Brent Group (Broom, Rannoch,
Etive, Ness and Tarbert formations) and Triassic-Lower Jurassic, Banks
Group (Statfjord and Lunde formations) reservoirs.
As well as being undertaken at the regional scale, analysis of fault
evolution will focus upon the Don SW and W Don Fields (211/13 and
211/18 blocks), where an understanding of the petroleum system and
hence, prospectivity is dependant upon having a robust structural
model. In order to achieve its main objective, the project will make
use of a large (10,000 kmē) merged 3D seismic dataset calibrated by
300 exploration wells.
The main emphasis of the project will be to undertake an accurate
interpretation on Edinburgh University?s in-house dedicated
workstation facility. Training will be provided in seismic and
sequence stratigraphic methods, the use of seismic interpretation
software, petroleum systems analysis and structural interpretation.
Whilst the main emphasis of the project will be on the North Sea
subsurface dataset, there will be an opportunity to undertake
strategic fieldwork in relevant extensional systems during the course
of the project. Regular liaison and reporting with the industrial
sponsor Valiant Petroleum and their license partners (e.g Petrofac)
will take place throughout the course of the project.
The project would especially suit a highly-motivated current or recent
geology or geophysics undergraduate or MSc student with an eye on a
future career in oil exploration.
Start Date: September 2008; Completion date: August 2011
Applications containing an up-to-date CV and the names and contact
details of two academic referees, should be sent to: Ms Helena Sim,
Grant Institute of Earth Science, School of Geosciences, The
University of Edinburgh, The King's Buildings, West Mains Road,
Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, Scotland, U.K.
Closing Date: Friday May 9th 2008
Further details are available from John Underhill
e-mail address: [log in to unmask]
Home page: http://www.geos.ed.ac.uk/contacts/homes/jru/
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The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
Scotland, with registration number SC005336.
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