April 2006 - Present: Independent Contractor, Bryn-y-Maen, Conwy

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Outline

As an independent contractor I have provided consultancy services, primarily for the energy sector in New Zealand, but also for local companies in North Wales. I was a researcher for CO2CRC (2004-2015), and have contributed to the development of research programmes for CCS. Over the last 14 years I have additionally led research on the petrographic and inorganic geochemical characterisation of New Zealand reservoirs.

 

Key projects

• Project manager and lead scientist: numerous single and multi-well commercial sedimentology & reservoir quality studies, New Zealand

• Petrographer and reservoir geologist: proprietary studies for exploration & production teams, international

• Project manager and lead scientist: regional multi-client reservoir quality study of all major reservoir intervals (Cretaceous-Miocene), Taranaki Basin

• Senior scientist: part of the due diligence team comprising 11 experts to evaluate the technical feasibility of disposing CO2 in the Gorgon Gas Field on Barrow Island

• Sequence stratigrapher: part of a team undertaking lead and prospect evaluation for the petroleum industry, Pakistan

• Lead scientist: Paleogene site selection study for CO2 storage, onshore Taranaki Basin

• Project manager/reservoir geologist: field-scale, basin-scale and multidisciplinary research studies, e.g.,

1. Geochemical studies integrating data from Chemostrat Ltd. with thin section data, QEMSCAN and biostratigraphy

2. Assessment of diagenetic alteration in frontier NZ basins, integrating sedimentology, biostratigraphy, seismic interpretations, petrography, QEMSCAN, zircon geochronology, apatite fission track data, and burial/thermal modelling

3. Reservoir property characterisation utilising multiple techniques (petrophysics, thin section analysis, QEMSCAN, MICP, fluid inclusions, stable isotopes)

4. Reservoir provenance studies (Taranaki) and integration with zircon geochronology

• Task leader and lead scientist: natural analogue studies for the CO2CRC Geochemistry Group, e.g.,

1. Rock fabric studies and database for understanding the effects of CO2 on rock texture and mineralogy (Taranaki, Otway, Bowen, and Cooper basins)

2. Multiwell diagenetic studies, integrating fluid inclusion analyses, K-Ar dating of authigenic clays, thin section and SEM petrography with basin models and timing/migration of hydrocarbons (Taranaki)

3. Integrated study using advanced techniques (including Hylogger, QEMSCAN, stable isotope analysis) looking at the effects of CO2 on rock mineralogy (Otway)

4. Batch and flow-through laboratory experiments simulating CO2 reaction in sandstone

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Key achievements

• Sedimentologist/petrographer on due diligence team for CO2 storage in Gorgon Field, Barrow Island

• Keynote speaker at the AAPG SEG International Conference in London, 2017

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Jan 2000 – Mar 2006: Reservoir Geologist & Sedimentology Team Leader for GNS Science

 

Outline

 

My role at GNS Science was to develop commercial services in clastic reservoir geology and provide a specialist research focus in reservoir diagenesis and integrated reservoir characterisation studies.

 

Key projects

• Lead geologist and project manager: over 20 multi-well, field-scale or regional studies for both exploration and production teams, having worked on most new discoveries in NZ

• Reservoir geologist: over 15 single-well studies, including core and petrographic studies

• Reservoir geologist for the prospect review team

• Lead scientist generating new research in the directions of reservoir quality prediction and investigating the effects of CO2 on clastic reservoirs for geosequestration.

• Contributor to course development for a new MSc in Petroleum Geology at Victoria University, NZ

 

Key achievements

• Developed the commercial work in Sedimentology

• Awarded Team Leader for Sedimentology; responsibilities included the management of workloads and resource availability within the Sedimentology team, to efficiently provide resources to research and commercial projects, to manage and to monitor staff performance/coach junior staff and to help develop team direction through training, recruitment and business planning

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April 1993 – July 1999: Sedimentologist & Reservoir Geologist for Robertson Research

                                                               

Work summary

• Reservoir geologist on a wide range of single-well, multi-well, field-scale studies, with study areas including Libya, Abu Dhabi, Oman, Angola, Vietnam, UK North Sea, onshore UK and English Channel, Norwegian North Sea, Irish Sea

• Technical work included core description and facies analysis, regional facies mapping and log correlation, detailed petrographic analysis and integration with burial modelling