Staff and Postgraduate Students

Mr David A Sagi, Msc

Contact Mr David A Sagi (email at d.a.sagi@durham.ac.uk)

Awards

March 2010:

Specialist price of the Hungarian Horizon Energy Ltd. at the Annual Meeting of Young Geoscientist, Hungary

Jan 2010:

Honourable mention for the oral presentation at the Tectonic Studies Group Annual Meeting with the title: Fault and fracture patterns in low porosity chalk

April 2010:

Awarded the “Norman H. Foster Memorial Grant” as part of the AAPG “Grants-in-aid program for the project: The effect of different fault properties on fluid transmissibility within chalks, a case study from Flamborough Head, UK

Modules Demonstrated

How the Earth Works, Mathematical Methods for Geoscientists, Assynt fieldtrip, Earth Visualisation, Geophysical Methods in Geology, Fieldwork (Geophysics),

PhD Topic

Imaging the 3D poro/perm characteristics of fault zones and their impact upon seal integrities in carbonate reservoirs

Fault zones within carbonate reservoirs are of great economic importance as they can act both as conduits and impermeable seals that trap oil and gas in subsurface hydrocarbon reservoirs. Fault zone physical properties such as porosity and permeability are extremely heterogeneous in three dimensions and are controlled by the fault zone architecture and the deformation processes. However, our inability to accurately capture the real 3-D geometry of the physical connection of faults and fractures within major fault zones (i.e. structural porosity), has represented a major barrier in our understanding of their sealing properties. These aspects are particularly relevant when we consider that: a) half of the world’s known petroleum reserves occur within carbonates reservoirs which likely contain faults; b) exploited oil reservoir’s, particularly those developed within carbonates, are increasingly being studied as potential sites for sub-surface CO₂ sequestration on a large scale.

The recent developments in 3D imaging and quantification at a variety of scales (digital mapping and laser scanning of outcrop datasets, e.g. McCaffrey et al., 2005), provide the technological basis by which we can achieve a detailed understanding of 3D fault geometry and connectivity.

 The research program proposed aims to characterize the architecture and the degree of connectivity of real fracture patterns associated with major fault zones in Italy and to produce an integrated  3-D model of the fluid transmissibility across a range of scales (quantitative field data + mechanical experimental data).

Previous studies

Sept 2003 –June 2008: Msc equivalent Diploma, Geophysics, ELTE University, Budapest, Hungary

Sept 1991 - June 2003: Lauder Javne School, Budapest, Hungary

Software knowledge

Microsoft Office Package, Corel Draw, RiScan Pro, ArcGIS, Image Tool, GMT, Surfer, Grapher, GeoGraphix Package, MathCAD, AutoCAD, GoCAD, ArcView, ER Mapper, Promax, R, Res2Dinv, MyFault

Spoken Languages

Hungarian (mother tongue)

English (fluent - IELTS: 7.5)

Ivrit (Hebrew), German, Spanish (Basic)