focussed on achieving a better understanding of the Bowland Shale in northern England. The broad
aim is to understand the geological variability of the formation from a basin- through to microscale,
and assess the impact of variability on hydrocarbon generation, storage and production (for
example, the co-incidence or otherwise of factors including organic content and kerogen type;
mineralogy; and engineering behaviour).
This report is the third summary report describing activities of the consortium, covering the period
October 2015 – June 2016. A series of 3 inter-related work packages are designed to improve
understanding of the Bowland Shale of northern England. The original numbering of these is
retained to allow continuity between previous progress reports. Specifically, these work packages
address:
1. Work Package 1,2: Basin analysis of the Pennine Basin; Characterization of shale facies;
2. Work Package 3: Development of chemical stratigraphies through prospective parts of the
stratigraphic column;
3. Work Package 4: Hydromechanical behaviour of shales.
Two work packages outside the consortium are also considered, namely
4. Retrieval of new materials to test
5. Reprocessing of 3D seismic data to assess rock properties
Descriptions of previous activities have been released, covering the period July 2014 to March
2015 (Hough et al., 2015a), and the period April 2015 to September 2015 (Hough et al., 2015b).
The consortium currently has 4 sponsors who each contribute £25 000 per year; BGS contributes
around £200 000 annually, which results in an annual budget of approximately £300 000. The
consortium is planned to last 3 years initially, and started in July 2014 with a scheduled end date
of June 2017
