Go on a journey from Late Palaeozoic reservoirs in the Southern North Sea and through to the youngest Tertiary plays of the Central and Northern North Sea.

The course reviews the structural, stratigraphic and sedimentological components of the North Sea petroleum system and provides an overview of their respective role in hydrocarbon generation, migration and trapping in the various sub-basins. It also focuses on reservoir geology, development history and exploitation of the remaining reserves.

Whilst the course covers all the elements of the petroleum system in the mature basin, its content is foundered on the basin’s structural and stratigraphic history and takes delegates on a journey from Late Palaeozoic reservoirs in the Southern North Sea and through to the youngest Tertiary plays of the Central and Northern North Sea.

The PESGB acknowledge Nautilus for their continued support in producing the course manual. Nautilus, an international training group is recognised as a valuable provider of Geoscience training in North America and Europe by the companies affiliated to the Geoscience Training Alliance (GTA). The PESGB are able to draw on the skills and experience Nautilus provides, to ensure delegates receive a valuable learning opportunity.

North Sea Petroleum Geology Course

Controls on the Geological Development and Evolution of the North Sea Petroleum Province

9th-11th May 2017, PESGB Training Centre Croydon

 Find out more at http://www.pesgb.org.uk/events/event-389/

Pitch Your Prospect: Simwell Resources

Burgate Exploration and Production: East Irish Sea Gas Appraisal Opportunity

Burgate Exploration and Production, on behalf of their co-venturers, is looking for partners to drill this exciting gas appraisal opportunity in the U.K. East Irish Sea that has the potential to be the largest remaining gas field in the region. Well 113/27-2, drilled in 1988, discovered the Castletown gas accumulation in Triassic sandstones but it was considered too small to develop. A new evaluation, using depth migrated 3D seismic data, has indicated that the well was drilled down flank and through a major fault and that a large gas accumulation remains to be proven up-dip. The Castletown discovery has ‘most likely’ prospective resources of approx. 250 bcf. Economics are positive for resource volumes as low as 17bcf. Well design is in an advanced stage and an appraisal well is anticipated to cost £6.5MM.

For further information download the flyer from http://www.simwellresources.com/projects.html and visit Simwell at PROSPEX 2016 on Booth 14

Only 3 weeks until PROSPEX 2016… have you registered your place?

Date for your diary:
PROSPEX 2016: 14 – 15 December 2016
Business Design Centre, Islington

PROSPEX 2016 is only three weeks away and is shaping up to be a fantastic opportunity to meet with your peers and keep yourself up to date with the current market.

We have 31 companies onsite presenting their prospects and a full two day timetable.

We have kept registration fees at the same rate as two years ago, and introduced a one day rate and an unemployed rate also.  PESGB and OGA hope that this will enable you to still access PROSPEX even during these difficult times.  More information can be found on the PROSPEX website: http://pesgb.org.uk/pesgb/pages/events/general/prospexpages/prospex-show

If you’ve yet to register for the show, there is still time, with registration closing at 5pm on Friday 9th December. Registration on the day will be available.

See you in December for the 14^th PROSPEX Show!

With thanks to our sponsors who have supported us in this difficult climate.

Your September PROSPEX Update!

There are only three months to go before PROSPEX 2016 kicks off, and the excitement is start to build.

Tickets are selling fast and we only have 6 booths still available! We are also preparing the launch of the Prospects Pavilion. Read below for details.

With tickets being sold quickly and exhibition space almost filling out completely, do not miss the chance to secure your place at this year’s edition of PROSPEX, which will again take place in the main hall of the BDC.  As in previous years there will be a full speaker programme incorporating the popular “Prospects to Go”  sessions, timetable of which will be released shortly.

We now also have a new One Day rate!

Registration

Visit our website to buy your ticket! Click here to register, or fill in the form. To find out more information, click here.

We listened to your feedback and we have a new One Day ticket available, which gives you access to the show on either 14 or 15 December.

Please note that if you wish to buy a One Day ticket, you cannot make this purchase online. Instead, fill in this registration form and return it to events@pesgb.org.uk. Alternatively, you can phone the office on +44 (0)207 4082000.

Exhibition Space

There are only 6 booths still available! Complete your booth booking form and return it to events@pesgb.org.uk as soon as possible to ensure you get your preferred space. See the floorplan for available space.

Reserve a “prospect to go” slot as soon as possible – there is a space on your application form to express an interest.  If you wish to speak on something that would not be regarded as a prospect to go, please speak to me directly.

Consider sponsorship of PROSPEX 2016 – by sponsoring early you will get maximum exposure for your company.

Prospects Pavilion

Introducing our brand new feature: the Prospects Pavilion! The main exhibition space is almost sold out and we are keen to exhibit as many prospects as possible to enhance everyone’s experience of attending PROSPEX. Priced at an incredibly cost-effective rate, the Prospects Pavilion will be situated in the Village Green area of our exhibition hall (right-hand side of the floorplan). The area will consist of poster panels and is aimed at companies who have only one prospect to market or companies who still want a presence but do not have any prospects to worked up to a full presentation level.

A panel will cost only £200 for the duration of the entire show and includes a complimentary delegate pass. To book a poster, please contact us at events@pesgb.org.uk.

At this stage we consider the Prospects Pavilion only open to prospectors, but if you are a non-prospector who wants a presence at PROSPEX and would prefer a poster to a full booth, please do get in touch with us with an indication of what you’d like to bring.

For more information, contact us at events@pesgb.org.uk, or call us at 020 7408 2000.

INDUSTRY NEWS: OGA exploration licence competition makes final awards

 

The Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) has awarded more than £200,000 in the final stage of its exploration licence competition which was launched earlier this year to stimulate further interest in offshore oil and gas exploration activity in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf (UKCS).

Australian privately owned geoscience company FROGTECH, not-for-profit earth sciences consultancy Geoscience Wales and private company Geop4ysics Ltd. will now complete their innovative interpretations and products using data acquired during last year’s UK Government funded £20m seismic survey of the Rockall Trough and Mid-North Sea High (MNSH) areas.

FROGTECH, based in Canberra, Australia, has approached the project utilising their SEEBASE™ product (Structurally Enhanced view of Economic BASEment). They will produce a unique, hand-contoured depth-to-basement model of the Rockall and MNSH areas which will provide greater insight into the foundation of the geological basement, rather than relying on more traditional gravity inversion methods. Additional deliverables include the interpretation of basement terranes, major structures and basement-derived heat flow.

Geoscience Wales’ project is being completed by six of their associates, industry professionals from across the UK, many of whom have worked on the MNSH area throughout their careers. Their primary aim is to document the potential effective petroleum systems present within the area with a strong focus on source rock geochemistry and basin modelling.

Kinga Wroblewska, owner of Geop4ysics Ltd., set up her company in March this year after spending more than 17 years’ working for various oil and gas service companies in the geoscience sector. Her project will integrate rock physics into the overall interpretation of the MNSH data set. The aim of this is to identify lithological variations and use these to help define the extent of both potential and known reservoir units.

Gunther Newcombe, OGA Exploration, Production and Decommissioning Director, said: “Despite the global downturn in the oil and gas industry, the overwhelmingly positive response to this competition highlights the tenacity and talent of the global geoscience community…All the projects submitted will provide greater insight into our understanding of the Rockall Trough and Mid-North Sea High areas, while adding value to our evaluation of 29^th Offshore Licensing Round applications…Given the high quality of the technical work delivered by all applicants, there is also the option for products to be integrated into other OGA exploration initiatives, such as the production of regional geological maps, to proactively influence and incentivise exploration on the UKCS.”

The OGA’s exploration licence competition launched in March 2016 and attracted more than 60 applications from the UK, Canada, USA, Australia and Europe. It was designed to encourage geoscientists to develop innovative interpretations and products using the data acquired from the Rockall Trough and MNSH areas and to increase the understanding of these frontier areas ahead of the 29th Seaward Licensing Round which opened last month.

PESGB Member, Mike Shepherd to present at Edinburgh Book Festival next week!

My book on the history of North Sea oil, Oil Strike North Sea was published by Luath Press last September, and will be presented at the Edinburgh International Book festival in August. In view of this, the PESGB have asked me to give an account of how I came to write it.

My recent literary efforts started when Aberdeen local historian Diane Morgan asked me to contribute a chapter to her book, Aberdeen’s Union Terrace Gardens.  I had been recently involved in a campaign to save the city centre gardens from being built over and she asked me to explain the background to what proved to be a major controversy in Aberdeen.  This inspired me to write my own history book. The North Sea oil business was an obvious topic, given that I’ve worked as a petroleum geologist for over thirty years and indeed saw big oil coming to my home town of Aberdeen as a teenager.

The history of North Sea oil is not a subject over-endowed with books. The large Scottish section at Blackwell’s bookshop in Edinburgh displays books on all aspects of Scottish history, including whaling and the coal industry, even the history of Scottish oil shale, yet North Sea oil barely registers amongst the titles.

The topic is complex and multi-disciplinary and this may have possibly scared off the non-insider from tackling it. As it is, my version of the story spends a large part of the narrative explaining the context to the non-specialist – this is unavoidable.  An early decision was also made to write the book in thematic chapters loosely organised as a historical timeline.  This allowed me to throw in numerous anecdotes from my own experience and adds a human element to the story.

One of the selling points to my publisher on submitting the book was that North Sea oil is one of the most dramatic stories to have happened in the UK outside the general sphere of war. It wouldn’t be difficult to write a lively account and that proved to be the case. As I mentioned in the introduction, it’s:

‘a story of big money, big engineering, a few spectacular failures and many great achievements….’

But, more than this, the development of North Sea oil was one of the biggest engineering challenges in recent history anywhere:

‘The North Sea proved to be a new frontier for the oil companies when they first arrived. They had been offshore before elsewhere in the world, but never in waters quite so stormy or deep. They would try their existing technologies at first, but these were put to severe test and often failed. New ways of doing things were needed if the oil was ever going to be recovered and given the specific problems they faced, the engineering required was colossal. With an effort on this scale, the North Sea oil industry has proved to be a major and tremendously exciting episode of both UK and Scottish history.’

This is undeniably true and I will add that every one of us should be proud of our contribution in making North Sea oil happen. In particular, the key roles of geology and geophysics occupy centre stage in the book, and if I have made what we do accessible to the general public then this has been a worthwhile exercise in itself.

Oil Strike North Sea will be presented at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Monday 15 August at 7.15pm
https://www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/whats-on/mike-shepherd

Mike Shepherd has also written a textbook – Oil Field Production Geology, published by the American Association of Petroleum Geologists

PROSPEX Early Bird Registration ends in a few days, don’t miss out!

Early Bird Registration Closing Soon! Early Bird Exhibition Prospector Rate Closing Soon!

Buy your ticket to attend PROSPEX and book your exhibition space before 31 July to take advantage of our discounted rates!

With tickets being sold quickly and exhibition space almost filling out completely, do not miss the chance to secure your place at this year’s edition of PROSPEX, which will again take place in the main hall of the BDC.  As in previous years there will be a full speaker programme incorporating the popular “Prospects to Go”  sessions.

We listened to your feedback and are pleased to announce that we have a new One Day ticket available, which gives you access to the show on either 14 or 15 December. Please note that if you wish to buy a One Day ticket, you cannot make this purchase online. Instead, fill in this registration form and return it to events@pesgb.org.uk. Alternatively, you can phone the office on +44 (0)207 4082000.

For more information regarding sponsorship, exhibiting or registration, please see our website, www.pesgb.org.uk or contact the Events Team on 020 7408 2000 or events@pesgb.org.uk 

Sponsorship sought for 2017 Edition of PESGB Structural Framework of the North Sea & Atlantic Margin Map

The PESGB map of the North Sea Basin and Atlantic Margin has been in production since its inception which dates back to 1990. The map is updated every two
years with each update planned to coincide with the PETEX Conference and Exhibition. The map summarises the major structural elements of the region and is supplemented by additional geological and geophysical information ranging from regional seismic sections through to representative seismic sections across different oil and gas fields; seismic ‘attribute’ maps; geological structural cross sections etc. The 2017 edition of the map will be released at PETEX in November of this year and then distributed to the PESGB membership with the January/February 2017 Magazine. As in previous years, the PESGB Map has also been sent to all schools, colleges and universities within the UK that are involved in earth science education.

The PESGB gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support received from CGG Robertson (GIS, draughting and layout), PGS (supplementary seismic panels, ‘attribute’ maps) and Deloitte LLP (licence base map; oil and gas field outlines).

Additional support has been received from sponsors whom have contributed to the printing and distribution costs of the map. The 2015 edition of the map was generously funded by Egdon Resources plc, ERCL Limited, Gaia Earth Sciences Limited, Hannon Westwood, Interica, Maersk Oil North Sea UK Limited, Midland Valley, Neftex, PetroStrat ltd, SCGIS Ltd, Stag Geological Services Limited, TAQA, Task Fronterra, Total and Union Jack Oil plc. In return for this support, each sponsor together with its corporate logo is acknowledged on the map.

 

As in previous years, corporate sponsors are sought to contribute towards the printing and distribution of the 2017 edition of the PESGB Map. The cash sponsorship has been pegged at £1000 (unchanged from 2013).

Map Sponsorship is also included in the Platinum Sustaining Sponsorship Package

Further details are available through Barbara Thomas (barbara@pesgb.org.uk) in the PESGB office.

REVIEW: Maxwell Gas Discovery Oil Finders Lunch

The second AAPG/PESGB Oil Finders Lunch saw 43 people gather at the Atholl Hotel in Aberdeen to hear Mike Cooper of Arenite Petroleum talk about the Maxwell Gas Discovery in the Southern North Sea. Mike gave an overview of the Cleveland Basin and focussed on the Zechstein carbonate reservoirs with particular emphasis on the Plattendolomite. A large structure at Plattendolomite level exists immediately offshore North Yorkshire which has been penetrated by several wells. All these wells encountered gas bearing Plattendolomite which could form a single gas column around 1500’ long.  This large structure is bounded to the west by a fault system called the Peak Graben which runs sub parallel to the coast coming onshore in the Scarborough area. The Plattendolomite reservoir has been charged by Zechstein sourced gas which is distinctly wetter than the more typical Carboniferous sourced gas. Potential Plattendolomite reserves are estimated at 690 bcf and require a well to confirm commercial deliverability. This well could be drilled from an onshore location to the offshore target.

Colin Percival then summarised the Ranger farmin opportunity available from Summit Petroleum. The Ranger prospect has a Balmoral target with oil in place of 65 mmbbl which has a distinct far offset amplitude anomaly interpreted as a hydrocarbon effect. The prospect is to be drilled late 2016/2017 at a dry hole cost of £5.1 – £6.7 million and Summit have 100% equity. Colin then reviewed the 2016 UKCS E&A wells drilled to date (7 including one sidetrack). These include two completed wells (Farragon South and Laverda/Slough), one well currently being sidetracked (Finlaggan) and three active wells (Loanan, Eagle and Winchelsea). The only confirmed discovery to date is Laverda which encountered 13’ net oil pay in the Tay Formation to the north of the Catcher Field which is under development.

The lunch was kindly sponsored by Arenite Petroleum.

---

The next Oil Finders Lunch will be on Thursday 1^st September when Apache will give a talk on their current activity on the UKCS.
If you are interested in presenting at the Oil Finders Lunch please contact colin.percival@parkmeadgroup.com

 

Have you been to PROSPEX? Fill out this quick satisfaction survey to help us improve…

We are always looking for ways to improve our work and enhance your experience as an exhibitor or delegate.
To help us achieve this goal, please complete this short survey 

Welcome to the PESGB Blog…

The PESGB Blog has been designed to complement the PESGB website, and bridge the gap between the PESGB Magazine and social media, whilst providing a forum for discussion for the PESGB community.

Post your comments, or contact blog@pesgb.org.uk to write a feature, share your anecdotes, pearls of wisdom or musings on the industry. This blog is for the members, shaped by the members. If there is anything you would like to see here, please get in touch.

Get involved, we would love to hear from you!

---