CURRICULUM VITAE
LESLIE A. RILEY PhD
Stratigraphic Consultant / Director: Riley Geoscience Ltd
50 Stafford Road
Bloxwich, Walsall
West Midlands WS3 3NL
UK
Phone:
Mobile:
E-Mail:
(44) 01922 403326
(44) 07770 476988
les@rileygeoscience.com
DATE OF BIRTH: 21st March 1949
NATIONALITY: British; UK resident
EDUCATION:
1967 - 1970 Kingston Polytechnic
B.Sc. Geology, Upper Second Class Honours - University of London External Degree
1970 - 1973 Nottingham University
Ph.D. Geology. Thesis entitled “A palynological investigation of Upper Jurassic - Basal
Cretaceous sediments from England, France and Iberia”
PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS:
Certified Petroleum Geologist (CPG No. 5977) – American Association of Petroleum Geologists
Chartered Geologist – Geological Society of London
Chartered Scientist – UK Science Council
European Geologist – European Federation of Geologists
AFFILIATIONS:
Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain (Active Member)
European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers – Petroleum Division (Founder Member)
American Association of Stratigraphic Palynologists
Micropalaeontological Society
Member of the UK Working Group on Sequence Stratigraphy (International Subcommision on Jurassic
Stratigraphy).
Geological Association of Canada
Black Country Geological Society – Committee Member
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CAREER HISTORY:
1996 – present
1993 – 2006
1989 - 1993
1986 - 1989
1983 - 1986
1981 - 1983
1973 - 1981
1972 - 1981
1971 - 1973
1969
Consultant Stratigrapher & Director of Riley Geoscience Ltd
Consultant Stratigrapher, Director & Co- owner of BVR International Ltd
Paleo Services Ltd., Watford. Manager UK Stratigraphy
Paleoservices Ltd, Watford. Manager Biostratigraphic Projects
Gearhart Geo Consultants Ltd., Aberdeen. Director UK & North Sea Division
Gearhart Geodata Services Ltd., Aberdeen. Deputy Stratigraphic Services Manager
Robertson Research International Ltd, Llandudno
1981 Stratigraphic Consultant
1976 - 1981 Senior Palynologist
1973 - 1976 Palynologist
Open University, Milton Keynes. Part-time tutor in earth sciences / geology
Occasional palynological consulting
Institute of Geological Sciences, Leeds. Summer Internship - geophysical field assistant
Contributed to and appeared in the Open University Second Level Course film Microfossils and their uses
(1976) and contributed to the revised OU’s Earth Science Practical Laboratory Notes for Foundation Year
summer school students (1979).
For the period 1977 – 1980, jointly supervised (with Chris Wilson – OU) an NERC CASE (OU and
Robertson’s) award PhD student (Richard Tyson – now lecturing at Newcastle University) working on the
palynofacies, geochemistry and sedimentology of the onshore and offshore UK Kimmeridge Clay.
WORK EXPERIENCE:
North West Europe: Mesozoic stratigraphy, palynostratigraphy and palynofacies, with emphasis on the
Jurassic - mid-Cretaceous: Single well and regional stratigraphic synthesis, inter- and intra-field correlations
relating to exploration, appraisal and development programmes; integrated with microfossil, wireline logs,
sedimentology and reservoir data. UKCS, offshore Norway, offshore Denmark, offshore Holland, offshore
France, Cardigan Bay, Celtic Sea, West of Ireland (Porcupine), onshore Greenland, onshore France,
onshore UK, onshore / offshore Portugal, onshore Spain.
Regional Mesozoic stratigraphic studies: West of Ireland (Porcupine), Celtic Sea, Norwegian-Danish Basin,
UK North Sea.
Field and development studies: Athena, Dunbar, Piper, Claymore, Northern Area Claymore, Scapa,
Britannia, Brodgar, Glenn, Fulmar, Toni, Thelma, East Thelma, Tiffany, South Brae, East Brae, Central
Brae, North Brae, Fulmar, Shearwater, Birch, Elm, Pine, Oak, Larch, Scott, Ettrick, Galley, Chanter,
Saltire, Highlander, Tarten, Janice, Jessie, James, Kate / Tornado, Buzzard, Mallard, Appleton, Halley,
Beechnut, Acorn, Skene.
Regional, multi-well, and sequence stratigraphic studies (integrated with seismic): Norwegian - Danish
Central Graben (Jurassic & Lower - mid-Cretaceous), Witch Ground Graben (Jurassic & Lower - midCretaceous), South Viking Graben (Middle Jurassic, Jurassic & Lower - mid-Cretaceous), UK Central
Graben (Jurassic & Lower - mid-Cretaceous).
Well-site Jurassic - Cretaceous palynology: Inner Moray Firth, Witch Ground Graben, Fisher Bank Basin,
Viking Graben.
Offshore Eastern Canada (Grand Banks & Orphan Knoll / Flemish Pass): Mesozoic – Lower
Tertiary E&A wells.
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Field correlation studies – Hibernia, South Nautilus, White Rose, North Ben Nevis, Hebron, Terra Nova.
Additional areas of experience: Mesozoic: Spain, Portugal, Romania, North Africa, Middle East,
Madagascar, India, Pakistan, Australia, Gulf of Mexico, Yemen.
Upper Cretaceous - Lower Tertiary UKCS, India.
Have given numerous technical presentations to exploration and development oil company personnel and
have been invited to give guest lectures / seminars in the geology departments of Birmingham, Oxford
Brooks, Kingston, Sheffield (MSc Class) and Hull (MSc class) universities. Have also been an invited
speaker at a number of conferences and have given presentations, for example, at PESGB, “Barbican”,
GSL, Petex, BMS, NPF and AASP meetings.
Have organised and lead Field (Eastern England, Northern France – Boulonnais & Normandy) and office
based seminars on Palaeozoic - Mesozoic stratigraphy and biostratigraphy for various oil companies
(Amerada Hess, Amoco, Arco, Deminex, GDF, Hamilton Bros, Marathon, Phillips Petroleum, Ranger,
Texaco, UK Exploration Managers Group).
COURSES ATTENDED:
Subsurface facies analysis - Selley, Imperial College.
Introduction to wireline log analysis – Schlumberger
Basic dipmeter analysis – Schlumberger
Well log - seismic sequence stratigraphy - Vail & Wornardt, AAPG Short Course
Applied sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology in hydrocarbon exploration and production – OGCI
Scales of geological heterogeneity - Pennsylvanian Jackfork Group, Arkansas. Applications to field
development and exploration for deep-water sandstones – Field Seminar: Lowe, Stanford University /
Chevron
Offshore safety induction & emergency training courses - Petans Ltd & Robert Gordons University
Upper Cretaceous – Neogene dinoflagellate cyst course – Atlantic Geoscience Centre / Utrecht University
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PUBLICATIONS:
1972
Causes of unreliability in microfossil samples. Mercian Geologist - with A.D. King
1972
Survey of the stratigraphic distribution of dinoflagellates, acritarchs and tasmanitids in the Jurassic.
Geophytology - with W.A.S. Sarjeant
1974
Miospores from the Upper Jurassic of Cabo Espichel, Portugal. Birbal Sahni Institute, Silver
Jubilee Volume
1974
Micropalaeontological and petrographical studies on Middle and Upper Jurassic samples from
Jameson Land and East Milne Land, Greenland. Open File Report, Greenland Geological
Survey - with D. Batten, J. Berry & J. Church
1977
Age de quelques assemblages de dinoflagelles et acritarchs du Kimmeridgian (Jurassique
Superieur) du Boulonnais, Nord de la France. Rev. Micropal. - with W.A.S. Sarjeant
1977
Stage nomenclature at the Jurassic - Cretaceous boundary, North Sea Basin. In, NPF Mesozoic
Northern North Sea Symposium
1978
Upper Jurassic palynofacies and environments, North Sea Basin.
Meeting, 1978 - with R.V. Tyson
1978
Middle - Late Jurassic. In, Distribution of biostratigraphically diagnostic dinocysts and miospores
from the northwest European continental shelf and adjacent areas. IKU Publication Series - with
R.J. Davey
1979
A palynostratigraphy of the Callovian to Barremian interval, North Sea. Abstract, Coloq. Int.
Palynol., Leon, Espana, Sept. 1977
1979
Dinocysts from the Upper Kimmeridgian (Pectinatus Zone) of Marton, Yorkshire.
Geologist
1980
The stratigraphic distribution of the dinoflagellate cysts at the boreal Jurassic - Cretaceous
boundary. In, Proc. IV Int. Palyno. Conf. - with M.J. Fisher
1980
Palynological evidence of an early Portlandian age for the uppermost Helmsdale Boulder Beds,
Sutherland. Scot. J. Geol.
1982
A dinocyst zonation for the Callovian - Oxfordian succession of Northwest Europe. Palynology
- with J.P.G. Fenton
1982
Latest Jurassic - Early Cretaceous events and “Late Cimmerian unconformity” in the North
Sea area. Bull. AAPG - with P.F. Rawson
1982
A note on the nomenclature of some Upper Jurassic dinoflagellate cyst taxa. J. Micropaleo. with M.J. Fisher
1983
Palynology, palynofacies and the “Base Cretaceous Unconformity” in the North Sea area.
Abstract. Joint AASP / CIMP Meeting, 1983
1984
Palynostratigraphy of the Berriasian to Cenomanian sequence at Deep Sea Drilling Project
Site 535, Leg 77, south eastern Gulf of Mexico. Init. Repts. DSDP, Leg 77 - with J.P.G.
Fenton
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Abstract, AASP Annual
Mercian
1985
Palynology and significance of radio-carbon dated organic materials from Cruden Bay Brick Pit,
Grampian Region, Scotland. Qty. Newl. - with E.R. Connell, A.M. Hall & D. Shaw
1987
Triassic to Cenomanian stratigraphy of the Witch Ground Graben. In, Petroleum geology of
north west Europe, III Conference - with S. D. Harker & S. Gustav
1989
The application of palynology in the interpretation of Brae Formation stratigraphy and reservoir
geology in the South Brae Field area, British North Sea. In, Correlation in hydrocarbon
exploration - with M. Roberts & E.R. Connell
1990
Valhall sand distribution through time. The application of palynology in the Scapa Field.
Abstract, North Sea ‘90 Symposium, Aberdeen - with S.D. Harker & S.C.H. Green
1991
Oxfordian - Kimmeridgian (late Jurassic) reservoir sandstones in the Witch Ground Graben, UK
North Sea. Abstract, Bull. AAPG (Dallas Convention Issue) - with S.D. Harker, K.A. Mantell &
D.J. Morton
1992
Lower Cretaceous palynology and sandstone distribution in the Scapa Field, UK North Sea. J.
Petrol. Geol. - with S.D. Harker & S.C.H. Green
1992
Bathonian - mid-Oxfordian sequence stratigraphy of the South Viking Graben, North Sea. In,
Exploration Britain - into the next decade - with J.M. Cockings, L.G. Kessler & T.A. Mazza
1993
Bathonian - Middle Oxfordian event stratigraphy and lithostratigraphy: South Viking and Witch
Ground Grabens. Abstract, Biostratigraphy in depositional sequence stratigraphy. BMS Aberdeen
1993 - with H.C. Davies
1993
Stratigraphic, structural and depositional history of the Jurassic in the Fisher Bank Basin, UK
North Sea. In, Petroleum geology of northwest Europe, IV Conference - with D.N. Clark
& N.R. Ainsworth
1993
Jurassic stratigraphic history of the Fisher Bank Basin, UK North Sea. Abstract & Poster,
Arkell international symposium on Jurassic geology. Geological Society of London - with
N.R. Ainsworth
1993
Bathonian - Cenomanian genetic sequence stratigraphy: Distribution and prediction of reservoir
sandstones in UK Quadrants 15 and 16. Abstract & Poster, Arkell international symposium
on Jurassic geology. Geological Society of London - with N.R. Ainsworth
1993
The stratigraphy of Oxfordian - Kimmeridgian reservoir sandstones in the Witch Ground Graben,
United Kingdom North Sea. Bull., AAPG - with S.D. Harker, K.A. Mantell & D.J. Morton
1995
Separation of Late Cimmerian rift and drift megasequences: A comparison of the Jeanne d’Arc
Basin, Grand Banks and the Outer Moray Firth, North Sea. In, Sequence stratigraphy: Advances
and implications for exploration and production in North West Europe. - with I.K. Sinclair
1995
The Rowan Sandstone Member (Upper Jurassic): Stratigraphic definition and implications for
North Sea exploration. J. Petrol. Geol. - with D.N. Wade & D.A. Lawrence
1999
Britannia Field, UK North Sea, biostratigraphic and lithostratigraphic framework. Abstract.
Lower Cretaceous of the Central North Sea: Regional Setting and Depositional Architecture.
Aberdeen, May 1999. - with N. R Ainsworth & L.Gallagher
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1999
A seismically constrained genetic sequence stratigraphy for the Ryazanian – Cenomanian of the
Central North Sea (UK, Norwegian and Danish sectors). Abstract. Lower Cretaceous of the
Central North Sea: Regional Setting and Depositional Architecture. Aberdeen, May 1999.
- with P. Worthington
2000
An Early Cretaceous lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic framework for the Britannia Field
reservoir (Late Barremian – Late Aptian), UK North Sea. Petroleum Geoscience. – with N. R
Ainsworth & L. Gallagher
2001
A mid-Cretaceous (Upper Barremian – Turonian) lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic
framework for the Hibernia Field reservoir, Jeanne d’Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland. Abstract.
St John’s 2001. - with N. R. Ainsworth & I. K. Sinclair.
2002
Palynostratigraphic and geological setting of the Late Oxfordian – Early Volgian Fulmar
Formation reservoir of the Janice Field (Block 30/17a, UK North Sea. Abstract. BMS / AASP
Conference, University College, London; September 2002 – with P. D. Ware, P. Worthington &
M. Quine.
2003
The Buzzard Field. Abstract. 6th Petroleum Geology Conference, London – October 2003. – with
G. Dore & J. Robbins.
2005
A Mid-Cretaceous (Upper Barremian – Turonian) lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic
framework for the Hibernia Field reservoir, Jeanne d’Arc Basin, offshore Newfoundland. In,
Petroleum Resources and Reservoirs of The Grand Banks, Eastern Canadian Margin. Geological
Association of Canada Special Publication 43. – with N. R. Ainsworth & I. Sinclair.
2008
Bathonian - mid-Oxfordian sequence stratigraphy of the South Viking Graben, North Sea. With
J.M. Cockings, L.G. Kessler & T.A. Mazza. In. Key Issues in Petroleum Geology: Stratigraphy .
Geological Society of London, Key Issue Series.
In prep.
A Cretaceous lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic framework for the White Rose Field, Jeanne d’Arc
Basin, offshore Newfoundland. - with N. R. Ainsworth.
Triassic to Middle Jurassic Stratigraphy of the Kerr-McGee 97/12-1 Exploration Well, Offshore Southern
England – with N. R. Ainsworth.
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