Heriot-Watt University chief scientist Professor John Underhill (photo: Heriot-Watt University)

A major funding package for the Institute of Petroleum Engineering (IPE) at Heriot-Watt University will directly support research and training for the future of the industry in UK offshore waters.

Heriot-Watt’s Chief Scientist, Professor John Underhill, has secured funding of GBP 416,000 from Verus Petroleum, an independent oil company active on the United Kingdom continental Shelf (UKCS).

The award will support a number of oil and gas related training and Applied Geoscience research activities in IPE including the NERC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT), the Ogilvie-Gordon 3D Audio-Visualisation Centre (OGAVC) and UK Continental Shelf (UKCS) and Frontier Basins PhD research activities.

These training and research activities and technical support will offer significant benefits to the future of the UKCS industry and development in terms of exploration and production and in maximising production in existing fields through the application of geoscientific innovation and state-of-the-art subsurface visualisation technology. The funding package underlines Verus’ commitment to the UKCS as well as the quality of research and training that exists within IPE.

Alan Curran, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Verus Petroleum, says, “Verus Petroleum are pleased to be able to offer this award to Heriot-Watt to support the world class Applied Geoscience research and training being led by Professor Underhill. The initiatives being supported will have a significant bearing on the future of the UKCS exploration and production activities by providing a research base to help us overcome key geological challenges and thus help us to maximise the economic recovery from and extend the life of the mature basin. The Ogilvie-Gordon 3D Audio-Visualisation centre will play an important role in knowledge transfer and collaboration and has the potential to reach beyond the immediate sphere of the oil industry and inspire future generations of geoscientists and engineers.”

John Underhill, HWU’s Chief Scientist, Professor of Exploration Geoscience and Academic Director of the NERC CDT says, “I am delighted to welcome Verus Petroleum as a valued industry partner to support the management of the CDT. In so doing, they take the number of companies supporting the program into double figures, something that is a testament to the continued attraction of the postgraduate training program that has been built and being successfully provided.”

“In addition to the support for the CDT, it is tremendous that companies like Verus see the benefit of our UK Continental Shelf and frontier basins research and training programs based in the Institute of Petroleum Engineering at Heriot-Watt. I look forward to working on the new projects including the launch of the Ogilvie-Gordon 3D Audio-Visualisation Centre (OGAVC) later this year,” adds Underhill.