Indirectly we return the investment through our high quality graduates at BSc, MSc and PhD levels. The Petroleum Geology MSc is top rated, and our first degree graduates have an employment potential at least equal to any in the country. The department also continues to provide a permanent venue for meetings of professional bodies within the Oil Industry. We are extremely grateful to these organisations for their continued support. One aspect of the environmental remediation work being undertaken in the Department is the chemical analysis of discarded drill cuttings.
Drill cuttings form a potential hazard on the sea floor.
Detailed chemical studies can assess the pollution potential from additives to drilling fluids and help fingerprint their source. Extending our horizons beyond the North Sea to worldwide petroleum basins has led to the forging of links with numerous companies and institutions abroad. Other initiatives involve governmental, research and multinational commercial organisations in Nigeria, Australia, Algeria, the Falkland Islands, the former Soviet Union, China and the Middle East, all contributing a flow of postgraduate and postdoctoral posts. Maintaining a Broad Research Base Despite the petroleum focus, maintaining a broad research and training base continues as a key objective. Metallogenesis and mineral exploration are increasingly important, and mineral geochemistry now provides a valuable interdisciplinary link into petroleum research.