GEOSCIENCES

CyrusOne expands Computing-on-Demand services

Houston-based CyrusOne, LLC has built a reputation as a leading provider of data center services including managed hosting, collocation and managed IT services for companies that need to maintain continuity of operations during challenging events such as severe weather disturbances. The company prides itself as having provided continuous computing and communications services, as well as workforce recovery space, to various companies during last year’s harsh hurricane season.

However, the company has also made significant investments in its high performance computing services for exploration companies that need to perform reservoir modeling, seismic processing, and simulation runs during times of high demand. One such investment was the recent partnership with Appro, a provider of servers and storage cluster services.

Under the terms of the partnership, Appro will provide its advanced blade technology to CyrusOne’s Computing-on-Demand leasing service, which will give customers access to high-performance seismic computing power that is cost effective, scalable and secure.

“High performance computing users gain a real competitive advantage by leasing equipment,” says Dave Ferdman, president and CEO of CyrusOne. “Leasing eliminates the total cost of ownership for a new capital asset acquisition or modification to their data center, which would be required to accommodate the increased cooling and power costs associated with the blade technology.”

The Computing-on-Demand service allows customers to pay for only the amount of capacity reserved for the duration of the contract period, with minimum financial and technical risk, according to Ferdman. If customers need to scale up their computing capacity, there is room to grow.

“We will have up to 2,000 nodes available over the next 12 months,” says Ferdman.

Ferdman sees the combined Appro/CyrusOne offering as a revolution to the processing and interpretation of seismic data. “Oil and gas customers often experience downtime in seismic processing due to a backlog of uninterpreted data. This productivity lag impacts revenue, as untapped reserves wait to be discovered.”

The on-demand computing service eliminates this lag by allowing customers to immediately start interpreting seismic data, without having to invest capital into hardware or extra data center floor space.

For more information on Computing-on-Demand, visitwww.cyrusone.com.

CGG to buy Veritas

Compagnie Generale de Geophysique (CGG) and Veritas DGC Inc. have entered into a definitive merger agreement, in which CGG will acquire Veritas in a part cash, part stock transaction. The aggregate value of the transaction is approximately $3.1 billion, which is an implied premium of 34.7% over Veritas’ 30-day average closing price of $55.69 for the period ending Aug. 29, 2006.

Boards of Directors for both companies have unanimously approved the transaction, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2006, pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.

The new company will operate under the name CGG-Veritas, and according to a CGG press statement, it will offer a broad range of seismic services and geophysical equipment (through current CGG subsidiary Sercel) as a global pure play seismic company. The combined company will operate 20 seismic vessels, including 14 high capacity 3D vessels. Multi-client services will be supported by two complementary, recent vintage seismic data libraries. The companies will also combine their respective capabilities in data processing and imaging to create the industry reference, according to CGG.

CGG-Veritas will have a combined global workforce of approximately 7,000, including Sercel, creating “the industry benchmark for seismic technology and services to a broad base of customers including independent, international and national oil companies,” according to the CGG press statement.

Sercel’s daily business operations will not change as a result of the transaction.

CGG’s current Chairman and CEO Robert Brunck is expected to handle these responsibilities for the new company, while current Veritas Chairman and CEO Thierry Pilenko will be proposed for appointment as one of the combined company’s new Board of Directors.

“We are very enthusiastic about the business potential of CGG and Veritas being combined,” said Brunck. “CGG-Veritas will be a leading global seismic company and the only pure play listed investment opportunity of this scale in the seismic sector.”

PGS back in GoM

Petroleum Geo-Services ASA (PGS) will acquire a new multi-client 3D seismic survey in the areas of Garden Banks, Keathley Canyon, Green Canyon and Walker Ridge located offshore Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf of Mexico.

The new program, called “Crystal”, will cover approximately 401 deepwater OCS blocks (9,345 sq km) and focuses on an area where a step-change in imaging quality is required.

PGS will be acquiring the Crystal survey using Wide Azimuth Towed Streamer (WATS) technology aboard theRamform Viking and two additional source vessels. The first phase of data acquisition will start in October 2006, with acquisition of the entire 401 block project to be completed in approximately 12 months.

BP America Inc. is the primary financial and technical partner for the Crystal survey. Additional pre-funding has been secured from other oil companies and the project has above average pre-funding levels as compared to other GoM multi-client seismic surveys.

“This project marks the return of PGS to the Gulf of Mexico,” said Rune Eng, president of PGS’ Marine Geophysical division.

“It is PGS’ strategy to have a presence in all the major global markets and to increase our investment in new Multi-Client projects. The Crystal survey achieves both those objectives and we envisage having many additional opportunities in 2008 to expand on this project. We are extremely pleased to have such an experienced partner as BP to be involved in this substantial project.”

PGS’ President for the North and South America region, Magne Reiersgard, added: “The Crystal area has significant imaging challenges and we believe that the area requires the advanced imaging solution that WATS provides to create a clearer image. We are pleased that BP and other companies have committed to the Crystal project, and that other major deepwater players have expressed interest in joining this project.”

Data will be available for the upcoming March 2008 lease sale in the GoM.

Gene Kliewer, Houston