Business and innovation

Midland Valley Exploration - quantifying risk during the processing of data for hydrocarbon exploration and production

Glasgow geologists secured thousands of pounds of funding for a new project thanks to help from the University of Glasgow.

Researchers at Midland Valley Exploration (MVE) have been working on a new initiative to quantify risk during the processing of data for hydrocarbon exploration and production.

Through working with Business Development Managers and academics at the university, the Glasgow-based company – which specialises in the development of analytical software to model subsurface data for the oil and gas industry – has been awarded £35,000 by the Scottish Executive’s SCORE initiative (please note: this funding programme is no longer available).

The SCORE initiative has been specifically designed to support research and development collaborations between public sector research bodies and small-to medium-sized Scottish enterprises – such as the partnership between the University of Glasgow and MVE.

Under MVE’s project ‘Concept Uncertainty and Constraints in the Interpretation of Geological Data’, the company will use the SCORE funding to study the variation in experts’ interpretations of geological data, helping to reduce risk and in turn, save time and money.

Dr Alan Gibbs, technical director at MVE, said the funding was essential to the development of the innovative work taking place at the company.

He explained: “This is the first time anybody has made a serious attempt to understand and quantify what happens when you give a bunch of geoscientists the same data.

“If we are to make progress in understanding technical risk, we need to be able to identify what contributes to a range of ideas.”

“With this project funding, we have already involved some 300 industry professionals in providing individual data for the project clearly, we are pushing the right doors withthis approach”.

Dr Gibbs added that the benefits of working in partnership with the university included access to top-class academics:

“Through working with the University, we have been able to join up with Dr Zoe Shipton from the School of Geographical and Earth Science, who is heading up the academic input – as well as offering postdoctoral researchers the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with industry interests.

“We’ve taken on an excellent post-doctoral, Clare Bond, who will play a key role in developing the project and taking it forward.”

Dr Zoe Shipton told us “This is a very exciting and innovative project, which would not have been possible without funding from SCORE.

We are extending the project into working with academics from all over the world and are getting a very positive response.”

Elizabeth Gray, Business Development Manager, at the University of Glasgow said the joint venture between the university and MVE had been a rewarding experience on both sides.

She added: “We’re delighted to have been able to help Midland Valley Exploration realise its ambition and look forward to continuing to support the company in the future.

The success of this new enterprise shows that partnerships between business and the university are an excellent method of helping SMEs, industry specialists and graduates develop and grow.”