New geological understanding reducing risk and uncertainty to improve economic exploitation of oil and gas resources across North Africa

Narrative

The oil and gas industry has benefited from increased success and efficiency in oil exploration and development through University of Manchester research. The industry is currently responsible for over 50% of global energy needs, and in 2020 was valued at USD86Trillion. Exploration wells range in cost from 10s to 100s million USD, and the risk associated with such investments has been reduced through better information and new research concepts that inform company decision making.
The understanding of outcrop and subsurface geology and interpretation of geophysical data, has been advanced by new data collected from northern Africa to develop evaluation models. The results have been utilised by 22 international oil companies (including Repsol, BP, and Petroceltic) to improve prediction of where to explore for oil and gas resources in North Africa, thus reducing uncertainty and risk, and also impacted the appraisal and development of oil and gas fields. This research has facilitated more targeted use of resources concerning multi-million-dollar decisions for exploration and development. This work has also built capacity within national government bodies in North Africa, through guided professional development and training of their geoscientists.

Impact date	1 Aug 2013 → 31 Jul 2020
Category of impact	Economic
Impact level	Adoption