About Midland Valley
The purpose of structural balance is to create a geological model which is: (i) internally consistent, (ii) relies only on known assumptions, (iii) makes some predictions, (iv) highlights interpretational problems and (v) highlights alternatives"
Alan Gibbs, 1980.
Midland Valley was set up nearly 30 years ago by Dr Alan Gibbs and two others to commercialise applied structural modelling and balancing to reduce uncertainty and risk in Oil and Gas Exploration and Production.
Today we are a world leader in the field of structural geology providing expert consultancy and the Move Suite of analytical geological software. We provide software and consulting and training services to the Upstream Oil and Gas; Mineral Exploration and Resource Development; Carbon Capture and Storage and Radioactive Waste Management industries.
We live by our founding principle - by geologists for geologists - and this ensures that the company displays a single-minded commitment to the needs of our clients and the end use of our products and services.
Working closely with our core team of Structural Geologists, Midland Valley Software Developers have translated geological theory into reliable and effective kinematic modelling software - Move.
Using the tools in Move geoscientists are able to quickly build robust 2D and 3D geological models from a wide variety of data types, and then test the validity of these models by moving them backwards and forwards through geological time - testing assumptions and essentially reducing the uncertainty in the structural model.
Our experience ranges across all tectonic styles and from soft rock to hard rock systems and at all scales - from hydrocarbon and mineral systems, to gas and fluid storage and monitoring. Our ground-breaking approach enables companies to reduce risk and undertake exploration, production and recovery in a more methodical and cost-effective way.
We maintain close links with research groups and the roots of geology as an observational field based science to keep our consulting and software products at the technological leading edge. We look at ways to invest in the future of our science and assist our next generation of geoscientists through our Academic Software Initiative, Young Geoscientist Initiative and our annual Student Structure Prize competition.
Why are we named Midland Valley?
The Company is named after the geological location of where we are situated - the Midland Valley of Scotland, lying between the Southern Upland Fault and the Highland Boundary Fault. The Midland Valley has strong historical links to the oil industry and to the history of our science.
Learn more about the History of Midland Valley and usage of the Midland Valley brand.
Midland Valley - The Structural Geology Experts.
