CGG Receives Perdido Subsalt Seismic Imaging Contract From Pemex

Geoscience company CGG received a major contract from Pemex to deliver an orthogonal wide-azimuth (WAZ) integrated solution for subsalt seismic imaging in the Gulf of Mexico’s deepwater Perdido area, CGG said on Oct. 25.

The new WAZ survey, covering about 10,000 sq km (3,861 sq miles), will overlay the existing WAZ seismic data acquired by CGG in 2010. This combined orthogonal WAZ dataset will provide Pemex with enhanced subsalt imaging results because the targets beneath the salt canopy will be better illuminated.

CGG said the survey will begin in early 2017, and the data will be processed in the company’s Villahermosa, Mexico, and Houston subsurface imaging centers.

TGS Expands Northwest African Atlantic Margin Seismic Survey

On Oct. 28, TGS said it expanded its Northwestern African Atlantic Margin (NWAAM) multiclient library in the MSGBC Basin offshore West Africa. TGS plans to acquire more than 11,500 km (7,146 miles) of 2-D seismic data and magnetic and gravity data in the Republic of Guinea, Guinea Bissau and the AGC joint exploration zone between Guinea Bissau and Senegal.

TGS will undertake this alongside PGS and in cooperation with GeoPartners. Acquisition of this first phase of the NWAAM expansion will commence in November 2016.

The NWAAM2017 seismic survey was designed to infill, extend and complement the TGS NWAAM2012 2-D survey, which helped with recent commercial discoveries in the MSGBC Basin.

The survey will be carried out with the seismic vessel BGP Dong Fang Kan Tan 1.

A 12-km (7-mile) deep-tow streamer will enable the recording of high-quality broadband 2-D seismic data, which will image the pre-rift, syn-rift and post-rift plays evident in this basin.

TGS CEO Kristian Johansen said the company already has more than 28,000 km (17,398 miles) of 2-D data and more than 18,000 sq km (6,950 sq miles) of 3-D data.

Norway, Russia Will Exchange Seismic Data In Search For Oil, Gas

Russia and Norway have agreed to exchange seismic data from the two countries’ Arctic maritime border in a bid to help the search for oil and gas, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate (NPD) said in a statement on Oct. 26.

“This agreement is extremely important. It allows us to achieve a better understanding of the regional geological conditions on both sides of the demarcation line and, not least, of geological structures that span across the line,” said Stig-Morten Knutsen, NPD assistant director of exploration.

The oil and gas industry uses seabed seismic data to help determine where to drill for petroleum reservoirs.

The agreement between the NPD and Russian petroleum authorities (Rosnedra) entails that both countries will exchange about the same volume of data from the Barents Sea.

Norway awarded 10 new licenses in May in the so-called 23rd licensing round for new exploration areas, which for the first time is granting access to an offshore border zone with Russia in the Arctic Barents Sea.

—Staff & Reuters Report

Offshore