PhD Synergistic and Competitive Effects between Multiple Gas Storage in Subsurface Porous Media
Key information
Multiple CO2 storage projects licensed within the same region or basin can influence one another through pressure communication. As more injection sites are developed in the North Sea, understanding these inter-reservoir interactions becomes increasingly important for safe and efficient storage.
Funding: Fully funded
School: Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society
Location: Edinburgh
Award: PhD
Start date: January 2026
Closing date: Friday, 28 November 2025
Duration: 42 months
Multiple CO₂ storage projects licensed within the same region or basin can influence one another through pressure communication.
As more injection sites are developed in the North Sea, understanding these inter-reservoir interactions becomes increasingly important for safe and efficient storage. In addition, the growing interest in subsurface hydrogen storage, potentially targeting the same or neighbouring formations, raises further considerations for pressure management and capacity planning. This overlap highlights the need for responsible and sustainable strategies to manage these increasingly used geological resources.
The focus of this PhD project is to explore fluid migration behaviour and pressure dynamics when multiple gas storage processes coexist in close proximity, with the goal of informing strategic geological resource use and enhancing storage performance. The research will examine potential interactions, including both competition and synergies, among various gas storage applications such as CO₂, H₂, and natural gas within subsurface porous media.