PetroStrat Ltd, an industry leading stratigraphic consultancy that provides a comprehensive suite of geological services to the upstream oil and gas industry, has announced the acquisition of the Specialist Geology Business Unit of UK-based RPS Energy Limited.

The acquisition will see the transfer of all RPS assets and 26 staff to PetroStrat, including 17 geological experts, as well as an R&D laboratory and offices in Northwich in the UK. The result will be over 100 staff and 62 geological experts working at PetroStrat, the largest knowledge base of its kind in the industry. 

Other benefits of the acquisition include:

• The further consolidation of PetroStrat’s position as the service provider of choice for multidisciplinary geological solutions covering biostratigraphy, chemostratigraphy (via its JV Future Geoscience Limited with Chemostrat Limited) and sedimentology/reservoir geology. The result for clients will be the latest knowledge on the subsurface to support not only enhanced oil & gas recovery but ultimately decommissioning and risk management, wind farm engineering and carbon capture and storage (CCS);
• The broadening of the company’s client base to include not only majors but more focused operators and their partners;
• A consolidation of PetroStrat’s markets, particularly in North West Europe (leveraging on RPS’s market penetration) and increased capabilities to provide integrated wellsite solutions in North West Europe and globally from both its UK and US bases. The acquisition will also enhance PetroStrat’s existing presence in Brazil, Canada, the USA and West Africa; and
• A broader set of reservoir geology solutions to  expand and develop PetroStrat’s offerings as well as access to RPS’s unique collection of non-proprietary, multi-client well data from Northwest Europe and around the world. 

Paul Cornick, Managing Director of PetroStrat, commented,
“The acquisition of RPS’s specialist geology business is the perfect fit for PetroStrat in terms of complementary service offerings, skill sets and global clients  We can now offer a more complete and fully integrated geoscience package to our clients covering all crucial elements of stratigraphy and reservoir geology.”

“The opportunity we now have to merge two huge datasets and to extract more information from these, using new analytical methods, is hugely exciting and we plan to adapt our service offering to provide high quality, cost effective and more timely solutions to help clients manage risk. When it comes to our global reach, our client base and our breadth of subsurface stratigraphic knowledge, PetroStrat is striving to meet the needs of a technically demanding industry in the best way possible.”

PetroStrat Director, John Gregory, added,
“The combined subsurface knowledge from the RPS acquisition also provides the perfect platform for our clients as they look to transition to the low carbon economy of the future.“

In areas such as decommissioning, risk management and the smart asset infrastructure of the future, such as in wind engineering and carbon capture utilisation and storage, our subsurface knowledge will be invaluable.Wherever clients need information on subsea strata and sediments, reservoir flows and  potential hazards and more, we will be there for them.”

PetroStrat’s headquarters and main laboratories are based in Conwy, North Wales  with offices (some through Joint Ventures) in St. Albans (UK), Houston, Calgary, Trinidad, Kuala Lumpur and Mexico. The newly acquired office and labs are in Northwich (UK). Clients include many of the world’s international and national oil companies.

RPS has worked for nearly 30 years supporting some of the most challenging exploration and development initiatives. Areas of expertise include asset and reservoir management; drilling support and wellsite geology; field development and planning; and seismic operations.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: PetroStrat   l   RPS Energy