Aberdeen University Scores £250,000 to Uncover North Atlantic Oil

As part of a nationally distributed £20 million package, a Scottish university has been issued with a quarter of a million pounds in a bid to search for North Atlantic Oil. The funding is part of the British government’s Oil and Gas Authority (OGA) grant, described as “a package of measures to further support the UK oil and gas industry during the current downturn affecting this nationally vital sector.”

Granite City set to reconnoitre Rockall

Aberdeen University is the latest institution to receive a slice of the funding, and has been issued with £250,000 to fund its search for North Atlantic oil. The leading Scottish university has confirmed that it will use the cash to explore seabed around the islet of Rockall, an uninhabited granite atoll set more than 200 miles off the Outer Hebrides. With new capital now at the ready, the university will have the scope to apply and expand its existing Atlantic Margin knowledge to the Rockall region.

Dr Nick Schofield, Senior Lecturer at Aberdeen University's Department of Geology and Petroleum Geology comments, "Rockall remains a truly frontier area of hydrocarbon exploration in the UKCS… The £250,000 grant from the Oil and Gas Authority will support research that will fully evaluate the potential for hydrocarbon prospectivity in Rockall.”

A nationwide cash injection

While £250,000 is a weighty sum, it’s just a fraction of the £20 million package announced by the Prime Minister in January. The goal is to fast-track exploration in the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS), and support growth within the nationally vital sector.

While there are challenges ahead, Schofield is confident that the area is lucrative, and maintains that “decoding the geology and petroleum system is what makes it exciting to work on.”

A collaborative effort from the Scots

Edinburgh’s prestigious Heriot-Watt university has also snagged OGA funding, with plans to work closely with Aberdeen researchers in order to heighten the success of both projects.

"This collaborative effort brings together a collection of experienced, respected industry facing academics, with a passion for the future energy security of the UK."

Universities play an integral role when it comes to pioneering research within the oil and gas industry. In the article ‘Ultrahigh Resolution Mass Spectrometry: Determining the Molecular Composition of Petroleum,’ Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick Dr. Mark P. Barrow offers expert insight on the effects of crude oil photodegradation, and how this process can affect its molecular composition in the environment.