Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- Spectrum has acquired and processed (some in partnership with TGS) 38,000 km (23,612 mi) of modern seismic data in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The data will allow oil companies to evaluate the prospectivity of the region ahead of the proposed lease sales in 2010, 2011, and 2013.

The data was acquired in two phases between 2006 and 2008 as part of Spectrum's “Big Wave” seismic program. The acquisition of Big Wave Phase 2, which includes a further 12,000 km (7,456 mi) of long offset seismic data, will begin in July and is scheduled for completion in November.

Analysis of Big Wave Phase 1 data along and outboard the Florida Escarpment has revealed a number of possible hydrocarbon accumulations both on the platform area and in the deeper waters, the company says. The data was processed at Spectrum's Houston regional data processing and imaging center with a sequence that includes both Kirchhoff and Wave Equation pre-stack depth migration (PSDM). This technique, together with display of the data in the depth domain gives geoscientists an excellent understanding of the geology in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, the company says.

07/01/2009