Searcher Seismic expanded its modern offshore data library with the completion of the Gulf of Papua seismic study in Papua New Guinea on Jan. 15.

The Gulf of Papua is a vast area comprising over 187,000 sq km (72,201 sq miles). With only 27 wildcat exploration wells drilled to date in shallow water, much of the region remains underexplored.

Searcher
Gulf of Papua prospectivity study. (Source: Searcher Seismic)

The Gulf of Papua seismic study was undertaken by Discover Geoscience on behalf of Searcher and consists of five main sections; tectonostratigraphic framework, tectonostratigraphic elements, facies and EOD mapping, charge modeling plus play concepts and leads inventory.

The study is being offered to the industry as an integrated multidisciplinary report of the hydrocarbon prospectivity potential across the entire Gulf of Papua utilizing the wealth of data from Searcher’s Gulf of Papua datasets.

Searcher has the most expansive multiclient geoscience dataset available in Papua New Guinea; including 77,910 sq km 2D seismic data (newly acquired and reprocessed), 1,795 sq km 3D seismic reprocessing, 60,690 sq km airborne gravity, magnetic and gradiometry data and a geochemical study covering the entire Gulf of Papua.  

“Modern seismic data has enabled deeper imaging of distinctive tectonic packages and basement which has been utilized in the study, leading to the identification of several new plays within the Gulf of Papua,” Simon Crellin, sales director for Searcher, said.

“The study has revealed significant prospectivity in this frontier region. Leveraging high-quality seismic data, drop cores, dredge samples, seep data and geochemical analysis within this study has enabled us to build a comprehensive leads inventory for the Gulf of Papua,” Crellin added.

The Gulf of Papua seismic study is also available alongside the Gulf of Papua seismic datasets.