The National Subsea Research Initiative (NSRI) is bringing together academic experts from across the UK to come up with a collaborative approach to unlocking the potential of ‘small pools’ of hydrocarbons in the North Sea.
The NSRI is hosting the Aberdeen event to help recover 1-1.8 billion barrels of oil which currently cannot be exploited economically.
Industry professionals from across the country will be given a flavour of the work undertaken by the academic community in a series of presentations on autonomous systems and robotics, integrity management, risers and pipelines, flow assurance management and geotechnical physical modelling capabilities.
The University of Manchester was picked as the ‘hub’ for BP’s International Centre for Advanced Materials in 2012 and secured an investment of £60 million to help support the search for oil in deeper and more challenging environments.
Robert Akid, Professor of Corrosion and Materials at Manchester University will provide an overview of the research studies relevant to oil and gas upstream activities which are being carried out at the centre.
Professor Nick Wright, Vice-Principal, Newcastle University will also demonstrate the UK’s capabilities in high pressure, high temperature developments through the university’s new £10 million Neptune Test Centre.
Dr Gordon Drummond, project director of NSRI, said: “Without some form of intervention, small pools will remain locked in and MER (maximising economic recovery) will not be achieved.
“Only by recognising the national strategic importance of these small pockets of hydrocarbons and working together will we be able to exploit them in an environment where conventional market dynamics have failed.
“Bringing together the country’s best minds will allow us to identify the possible technological solutions that could unlock these small discoveries and help prolong the life of the North Sea.”
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