Deal with the Seal

Tron Golder Kristiansen is applying geo & rock mechanics to solve various challenges in the oil and gas industry. He started with Amoco in 1992 including work at their research center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was Global Geomechanics Advisor for BP from 2003 to 2016. Tron joined Aker BP in 2016 to set up their Engineering Geology team. He is currently Chief Engineer Rock Mechanics in Drilling & Wells in Aker BP. Tron has an MSc in Petroleum Engineering from Stavanger from 1992.

Tore is a Senior engineer at Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) in Oslo, Norway. He holds a Ph.D. (2018) from the Department of Mathematics in the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at University of Bergen, Norway, and a M. Sc. (1999) in Electrochemical Engineering from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Since 2001 he has worked with numerical modelling as an application engineer for COMSOL and since 2007 as a research scientist at NGI. His main focus is CO2 storage, hydrogen storage, hydrogeology, solute transport and in general processes involving fluid flow, heat transport and geomechanics in the subsurface.

Mr. Fisher is Professor of Petroleum Geoengineering and Director of the Wolfson multi-phase flow laboratory at the University of Leeds. He is also the founder of PETRIVA Ltd - a spin-out company that develops data-visualization/mining software and provides consultancy services such as fault and top seal analysis, tight gas petrophysics and core analysis. He has published >100 academic papers on subjects including geochemistry, geomicrobiology, data visualization, structural geology, petroleum engineering, geomechanics and geophysics. Fisher is also a member of the GeoAdvisory board for Nagra - the Swiss nuclear waste disposal company. NAGRA.

Philipp Müller has a master's degree in Geoscience from the University of Kiel and is currently pursuing his PhD at the University of Bergen. His research centers around fault- and top seal analysis in the Norwegian Sea. Previously, he gained experience at Geomar (Kiel, Germany) and the Center for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (Oslo, Norway), where he specialized in interpreting reflection seismic data related to vertical seismic anomalies, such as pipe structures and hydrothermal vent complexes..

After obtaining his Ph.D from Imperial College in 1986, Pete spent 5 years as a field geologist working in Alaska, Libya and Yemen. In 1990 he joined the Fault Analysis Group where he specialised in seismic interpretation and fault analysis. In 1995 Pete joined Badleys. He is a structural geologist specializing in fault seal analysis especially in fault-bounded compartments and has worked on projects in petroleum provinces worldwide.

Neil currently works as a “specialist” geologist with ConocoPhillips supporting global exploration and development. In the dim and dusty past, he acquired a PhD in structural geology from the university of Leeds, graduating in 1989. Since then, (and for the last 32 years) he has worked with Conoco and latterly ConocoPhillips in a variety of technical roles. He is the last remaining Aberdeen-based employee in the company. His main work interests are in improving trap analysis, focusing on both fault and top seals and how to better predict hydrocarbon column height ranges in undrilled prospects.

Frauke Schaefer holds a position as Structural Geology Advisor at Wintershall Dea. She is an expert for structural balancing and fault seal analysis with 25+ years of experience in the E&P, CO2 storage, and geothermal energy sectors. Her experience also includes seismic interpretation, dynamic modeling, and public relations. She graduated from Würzburg University with a Diploma (Master of Science) degree, and a PhD from Freie Universität Berlin, where her research focused on the structural geology of the Variscan orogenic belt.

Nicholas is principal production engineer for the Northern Lights Joint Venture DA, seconded from Equinor. His background is in rock/geomechanics, with focus in early phase field development, safe injection design and geomechanical risk characterization and understanding. Nicholas holds degrees in rock mechanics-related disciplines from US and UK, and joined Equinor in 2011 after completing postdoctoral work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.

Sian's research is centred on structural de-risking of prospective CO2 storage sites on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, as part of the Norwegian CCS Research Centre at the University of Oslo. She holds a PhD in salt tectonics and Masters in Petroleum Geoscience from Imperial College London. She has broad experience in subsurface basin analysis and seismic interpretation, and is now focused on applications of structural geology in the energy transition.

Craig Smalley is a visiting professor at Imperial College London who researches and consults in reservoir connectivity, opportunity identification and screening, and risk management and decision-making in the areas of oil and gas production and CO2 storage. A geologist by training, Craig worked at BP for many years in various technical and leadership roles, before which he worked at IFE in Norway.

Asdrúbal Bernal is a Specialist Geologist at Equinor, currently holding an advisory position in Structural Analysis. He earned his Ph.D. in Geology from the University of Manchester in 2003 and a B.S. in Engineering Geophysics from Simón Bolívar University in 1997. Throughout his career, Asdrúbal has occupied diverse roles in exploration, field development, production, and research projects, primarily focusing on seismic data interpretation and analysis of traps, seals, and petroleum systems.

Eleanor Stirling completed a geology degree at Edinburgh and a petroleum geoscience Master’s at Royal Holloway, before gaining her PhD at Leeds on the Carboniferous fluvio-deltaics of the west coast of Ireland. From there she started with bp, where she has now been for 20 years. Her career has focused mainly on integrated exploration projects across the globe, but also closer to home in the North Sea. She currently works in a central specialist team providing sedimentology and stratigraphy support to global teams, and she is also an advisor in basin and play analysis.

Dr Ehsan Daneshvar is director of Operations in Future Geoscience limited company from the UK and he is technically involved in reservoir and seal characterisation workflows. With over 20 years of cross-industry experience in Oil & Gas, Environments, Water Resource Management, Mining, and Offshore operations, Ehsan is a results-driven professional adept in leadership and mentoring. His extensive expertise spans clay mineralogy, reservoir quality analysis, diagenesis processes, mineral identification, and project management. Having excelled in roles ranging from Operation Manager to Business Development Specialist, he consistently achieves outstanding outcomes by combining technical expertise with multidisciplinary approaches in reservoir and seal forensic projects, alongside strong leadership and strategic insights. Ehsan's strengths encompass team leadership, business expansion, and fostering collaboration.

Erling is Educated at Univ. of Oslo, 1990, Dr. Scient in Structural Geology. Thereafter worked in Petec, Geomatic, Norsk Hydro, Svenska, Det norske and finally AkerBp. Specialization includes fault seal & migration models used in exploration to find and de-risk new traps.

Amit Govil joined SLB in 1993 as a Wireline Field Engineer. During his initial 9 years in the field, he worked with many clients and cased hole technologies. Since 2021, Amit has been working as Advisor, Reservoir Performance Intervention for Scandinavia. He has authored multiple technical papers, presented at local and international conferences. He is involved with SPE Stavanger Section, as a Treasurer and ICoTA as technical committee member.

Christian has a MSc in applied mathematics (University of Bergen) and a PhD in geological sciences (University of South Carolina, Columbia). He has been employed by Equinor since 1984 and has had an adjunct professorship at the University of Bergen since 2009. Christian has primarily worked with subsurface fluid flow including trapping of fluids by caprocks and faults, but also with pore pressure, sediment remobilization, subsurface temperatures, CO2 storage and hydrocarbon exploration. His university work includes running a course in energy transition and supervision of a group of 5-10 students. He has published ca 50 papers. He has received two AAPG Jules Braunstein best poster awards and a Fulbright-Hays scholarship, and is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Technical Sciences.

Frode has worked as a geologist offshore on site survey vessels and as a researcher at Norwegian institute for water research. Joined Statoil in 2007. Had different positions both within project management and
discipline adder. Worked as a specialist in overburden management and safe injection since 2015. Currently hold a position as senior advisor on Overburden management.

Education: Cand. Scient at UIB - Geology in 2001

Sverre has a PhD in Geology from University of Tromsø. He is a specialist in Reservoir Geology and Petrophysics. Employed in Statoil/Equinor since 1996.
Has done exploration and reservoir geology research on most continental margins where Equinor has interest. Currently leading research activity on Geological Formations as Natural Barriers in plug and abandonment.