Professor Richard Swarbrick

Current Employment 

Richard Swarbrick is an independent consultant specialising in bespoke consultancy and training on all aspects of subsurface pressures. Recent projects include

  • Audit of pressure prediction capability for major overseas international operators.
  • Assessment of reserves based pressure data interpretation (West Africa).
  • Evaluating PP change in overburden above depleted HPHT reservoir (North Sea).
  • Semi-regional study of PP-FG in compressional fold belt (SE Asia).
  • PP-FG prediction – deep-water GOM (USA) and sub-salt play (Eastern Mediterranean).
  • Seal capacity and PPFG prediction associated with development of oil discovery (North Sea).

Employment History

  • 10 years with Mobil Oil Corporation (UK & USA; Exploration & Production)
  • 15 years at Durham University, UK, teaching Petroleum Geology and Basin Studies. Co-author of principal textbook “Petroleum Geoscience”.
  • Founder of GeoPOP research group – multi-disciplinary project investigating overpressure in sedimentary basins, coordinating research at three universities and funded by seventeen oil/gas companies.
  • Founder of GeoPressure Technology Ltd in 1997 (now Ikon GeoPressure, part of Ikon Science since 2006) – provider of software and consultancy solutions and training in subsurface pressures.
  • 3 years (2010 to 2013) as Global Director (GeoPressure & GeoMechanics) at Ikon Science, the major services provider, leading a staff of over 40 professionals.
  • For 20 years a teacher of highly-acclaimed training courses at basic to advanced level on all aspects of subsurface pressures and their geological context to over 1000 oil/gas professionals.

Academic involvement at University of Durham