The PhD project is sponsored by the Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre (DHRTC) at DTU with supervision by Hamid Nick. The project is within the tight reservoir development (TRD) research programme at DHRTC with enrollment at the PhD school at Applied mathematics and computer science at DTU, and co-supervisor based at the Geoscience Department in Aarhus University.
The Danish Hydrocarbon Research and Technology Centre (DHRTC) was founded in 2014 with an overall purpose to improve and enhance oil recovery in the Danish part of the North Sea. By 2020 DHRTC aims at having increased the oil and gas recovery to approximately 100 million barrels. DHRTC span a wide spectrum of researchers from different fields and a strong team of people coming directly from the oil and gas industry. The unique combination of researchers from various scientific, engineering, geoscience and chemical backgrounds and people with first hand knowledge of how the industry works provide a framework for new ideas to grow and evolve, and for new scientific discoveries. DHRTC demonstrates a strong relationship between the academic and industrial aspects of hydrocarbon research. Furthermore the centre covers a wide scope of research projects.
The project aims at identifying key physical quantities for natural fracture formation in Lower Cretaceous rock to help inform stochastic models of fracture geometries compliant with geologic interpretations and physical laws.
The project rely on measurements of fractures in core, rock mechanics experimental data, and interpretations from outcrop measurements.
Lower Cretaceous reservoirs in the North Sea, primarily producing through the Valdemar Field, are characterized by chalk with marl-rich and clay-rich intervals. Fractures within the reservoir play a
significant role in hydrocarbon migration. A proper understanding of the geomechanical aspects and fractures in Lower Cretaceous reservoirs will help predict and build fluid flow models. Ultimately these investigations can optimize and enhance oil recovery from Lower Cretaceous fields in the Danish North Sea.
A sedimentary core drilled at a few kilometers depth in the Danish North Sea in the Valdemar Field. Note the fractures in the core that provide pathways for oil and gas to migrate through. The core is composed of chalk and clay.