Training

GeoPressure Technology offers highly acclaimed training courses which are available as open courses at several oil centres each year, or as in-house courses.  Bespoke courses on overpressure and pore pressure prediction are also available.

In-house training has been provided for the following companies: Shell, BP, Maersk, Kerr McGee, Amerada Hess, BG, Devon Energy and Marathon.

Current courses available include:

Pressures and Overpressure in the Subsurface

A three-day training course with the principal objective of teaching participants how pressure data relate to the safe and efficient exploration and expolitation of petroleum reservoirs.

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Pore Pressure Prediction in Practice

The principal aim of this two-day training course is to develop understanding and familiarity with pore pressure prediction techniques, as well as knowing their limitations, in the context of the rocks and fluids found in a range of petroleum systems.

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HPHT Well Planning

The aim of this 2-day course is to equip participants with knowledge of HPHT conditions and thier prediction, the data components required for well planning and issues which influence successful drilling in such conditions. The course is run in collaboration with Think-Well, who offer drilling solutions in marginal and complex environments.

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Training approach

All of the courses offered by GeoPressure Technology are a combination of taught topics, exercises and case studies.

Training instructors

The training courses we offer are instructed by the Managing Director of GeoPressure Technology, Dr Richard Swarbrick and by Dr Rick Lahann.

As a world expert in oilfield pressures, Dr Swarbrick is also an instructor for the Geoscience Training Alliance and the AAPG Continuing Education Program.

Since gaining a PhD in Geology from the University of Cambridge in 1979, Richard has written many publications on the origin and effects of overpressure and its prediction in sedimentary basins.  He was also employed as a geologist by Mobil for ten years in London and Dallas before he joined the staff of the University of Durham to conduct extensive research into overpressure, pore pressure prediction and links to the petroleum system.

Richard has held industry courses on overpressure and pressure prediction in Europe, Far East, West Africa, South America, Central Asia and USA.

Dr. Rick Lahann is an independent consultant with a long-term relationship with GeoPressure Technology. After completing a Ph.D. in low-temperature geochemistry at the University of Illinois in 1975, Rick joined the Department of Geology faculty at SUNY-Binghamton (Binghamton, New York). In 1980, he joined the Exploration Research Division of Conoco.

In September of 2003, Rick left ConocoPhillips after 23 years of service. His contributions during that time included technology development and application in clastic diagenesis/reservoir properties and fluid/fracture pressure causes, prediction and interpretation. From 1996 to 2003, Rick was responsible for fluid and fracture pressure prediction and drilling support for many international wildcat wells. His experiences range from well-site activities to theoretical shale petrology issues.

Rick has maintained an active publishing record in clay mineralogy and clastic diagenesis and has been an officer of the Clay Minerals Society. He continues to publish on the relationships between shale petrologic changes and fluid pressure generation.

For more information about our range of training courses, please click on the boxes on the right. Alternatively, if you have any questions about the training courses that we offer, please contact us on
+44 (0)191 334 2191 or click here to submit an online enquiry.