Research

University wins £150,000 oil company contract

Published 26 May 2011

The University of Brighton has been awarded a four-year contract worth £150,000 by a major US oil company.

Phil Ashworth, the university’s professor of physical geography, will study the sedimentology of river and tidal sediments which are analogues for ancient sediments that can host significant reserves of oil and gas.

He said: "We are very pleased with this contract from one of the world's largest oil companies. This is our third successive contract from this US-based industrial partner and puts Brighton firmly on the map of delivering applied geoscience.

"The aim of this latest research is to improve hydrocarbon yield through more efficient extraction strategies. To achieve this, it is important to understand how river-tidal sediments were deposited, their geometry and spatial arrangement."

Professor Ashworth who leaves next month for two weeks of field work research on the Columbia River in north west USA, said: "This new contract will run alongside a separate UK Natural Environment Research Council grant for £607,000 that is investigating the processes and dynamics of the Lower Columbia River Estuary.

"It is encouraging to receive both blue-sky and applied research funding on a topic central to oil company concerns at present."

Professor Phil Ashworth on sandflats on the Lower Columbia River Estuary

The contract is worth a total of £290,000, £150,000 of which has been awarded to Professor Ashworth. The remainder has been awarded to the University of Illinois.

The contract involves funding a full-time PhD student at Illinois, supporting three sedimentology field work sessions in the USA and data exchange between Brighton/Illinois and the oil company sponsor. The universities will also be working with partners in Leeds, Birmingham and Calgary.