Overview
Characterise Triassic salt beneath the East Irish Sea as potential hydrogen storage sites, interpreting 200+ wells and 3D seismic data with industry-standard tools. Join an Eni-funded multi-university project combining subsurface modelling with salt mine fieldwork, directly supporting the low-carbon energy transition
About this opportunity
The shift to renewable energy brings a fundamental challenge: wind and solar generation is intermittent, and society needs large-scale storage to bridge the gaps. Hydrogen is emerging as one of the most promising carriers for storing this energy, but it requires safe, geologically suitable underground repositories. Engineered salt caverns, long used for gas storage, are an ideal solution, and the thick Triassic halites of the Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) beneath the East Irish Sea Basin are a compelling candidate for development at scale.
This PhD, funded by Eni as part of a coordinated multi-university programme, will deliver the first systematic subsurface characterisation of those salt units, covering their thickness, purity, structure and faulting, to assess their real-world feasibility for hydrogen storage.
What you will do
Working with one of the largest subsurface datasets assembled for any UK PhD, you will interpret wireline logs from up to 224 wells and up to ten 3D seismic surveys across the East Irish Sea, supplemented by onshore data accessed through the BGS. Using Techlog and Petrel, the industry-standard platforms for well and seismic interpretation, you will map the MMG evaporite sequence in three dimensions, defining the depth, thickness and lateral extent of individual salt horizons, their mineralogical purity, clay content, and structural integrity.
The work is organised into six progressive work-packages, moving from training and data compilation through to integrated mapping and final deliverables for Eni. You will produce isopach maps, N–S and E–W cross-sections, and fault location maps overlaid on evaporite architecture, outputs that will directly inform decisions about where salt caverns could safely and efficiently be sited.
Fieldwork is a core part of the project. You will visit working salt mines in the Northwich area of Cheshire, gaining hands-on familiarity with MMG evaporite sedimentology and rock mechanics, and you will examine representative core material at the BGS core store in Keyworth. These visits ground-truth your subsurface interpretations against real rocks and real mining practice.
Training and collaboration
The project is based at Liverpool, with supervisory input from colleagues at Durham and Manchester. You will also engage directly with Eni’s geoscience staff in London and potentially Milan, giving you exposure to industrial standards and workflows from the outset.
Training in Petrel and Techlog is built into the first work-package and continues throughout the project. You will also develop skills in evaporite sedimentology, seismic interpretation, structural geology and subsurface characterisation, a portfolio that is highly valued across the energy industry and in the growing hydrogen and CCS sectors.
Project structure
The first year is focused on training: software skills, data familiarisation and initial well log compilation. Years two and three transition progressively towards independent interpretation, seismic and well integration, and map production. The final year is dedicated to synthesis, thesis writing and communicating results to the supervisory team and to Eni. By the end of the project you will have the technical depth and industry credibility to step directly into roles at the interface of subsurface geoscience and the low-carbon energy sector.