Established in 2020, Aberdeen-based Community Interest Company (CIC) North Sea Core recently noted down request number 1250. “It’s really great to see that there is a demand for the core material we save from going to landfill,” says director and founder Henk Kombrink.
A CIC is a type of limited company set up for social enterprises that have specific social objectives. In this case, all profits generated through activities are reinvested and used for the benefit of the geoscience community.
Cores are geological samples from reservoirs drilled in the North Sea. These samples inform oil and gas companies about the amount of oil or gas that can be produced from a field. But when a field is taken out of production, these samples are increasingly disposed of because operators don’t want to pay for storage anymore.
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Geologist Henk Kombrink first had the opportunity to get his hands on some core material that was marked for disposal in 2017. Since then, he has been on the case, and he and his team now curate a diverse collection of core samples from many wells and fields in the North Sea.
“In terms of volume, most of our core is sent to universities” says Henk, “but we also do speaker gifts for conferences, or supply material for research and lab testing.” The company ships core all over the world, from South Korea to Australia and the US.
“When I started this, my friends told me that interest would rapidly tail off,” says Henk, “because they thought it would be too niche. And of course, it is, but I must say that after being in business for a few years now, we don’t see that happening just yet!”
