Gene Kliewer • Houston
Africa
TGS-NOPEC and West African Geophysical Seisdata Co. have opened a dedicated data storage, tape duplicating, and seismic data processing facility in Lagos, Nigeria, in the Lekki Peninsula area.
In addition to storage and copying, the facility is able to recover data from older formats as well as provide workstations and high-speed communications for online data and information inquiry and retrieval.
As for processing, the data center is networked to TGS Imaging’s processing nodes in Houston and Bedford, England, and can perform duplication and integrity checks, data transcription, sub-volume extraction, data split/merges, and pre-stack work, TGS says.
The Seychelles government and Avana Petroleum have agreed to begin offshore exploration. Avana, with partner East African Exploration, is planning a 15,000-sq km (9,320-sq mi) program over three offshore blocks, A, B, and C, in water depths of 61 m (200 ft) to 2,438 m (8,000 ft). Early work will focus on the shallower waters.
EAX is part of the Dubai-based Black Marlin Energy group that will conduct the geological and geochemical investigations over the next two years. Black Marlin Energy subsidiary Upstream Petroleum Services Ltd. expects to seek tenders for the planned 2D seismic survey over 2,000 km (1,243 mi) of the blocks over the next two years. Seismic data was gathered over 2,650 km (1,647 mi) in 2007 by the SeabirdGeoMariner, the majority of which was carried out over blocks A and B.
A well is planned in the second exploration period, possibly as early as 2011.
Latin America
SCAN Geophysical ASA has signed a contract with GX Technology, an ION Geophysical subsidiary, to acquire up to 8,000 km (4,971 mi) of long-offset 2D data offshore Argentina. Some of that data will go to complete GXT’s ArgentineSPAN program.
SCAN says it will use itsGeo Searcher with a 10,000-m (32,808-ft) solid streamer and special tuned source for the project.
Ingrain, a Houston-based digital rock physics company, has opened a laboratory in Rio de Janeiro.
“Demand for our services continues to grow,” says Henrique Tono, Ingrain’s CEO. “The opening of Ingrain’s lab in Brazil shows that technology leaders in the oil and gas E&P industry are embracing digital rock physics.”
The Geological Products and Services division of TGS says it has started a multi-client interpretive study of offshore Brazil using the company’s proprietary Facies Map Browser (FMB) application. The FMB allows visualization of the distribution of and relationship between the various elements of a petroleum system within a depositional basin.
This new study, funded by several oil companies, will use borehole and seismic data to map the development of depositional systems offshore Brazil in the form of sequence constrained environmental facies distribution maps.
The first phase of the project, the Santos Basin FMB, is scheduled for completion by end 1Q 2009. Additional phases in the Campos and Espirito Santo basins are scheduled for completion in 2009 and 2010.
Asia/Pacific
Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA has won a contract valued at $7.5 million to apply its Clearplay Test service of 3D electromagnetic surveys to rank several hydrocarbon prospects offshore Malaysia.
The prospects will be targeted by towing an EM source over receivers placed 1 - 2 km (0.6 to 1.2 mi) apart in a grid. The wide-azimuth, 3D EM data will then be processed to create resistivity maps and volumes.
EMGS also has launched the world’s first purpose built EM survey vessel. TheBOA Thalassa was build by Bergen Group Fosen and is on lease from owner BOA Offshore.
EMGS says its survey capacity is increased by the vessel’s ability to handle a record number of receivers. TheBOA Thalassa carries 100 receivers and can double this figure. Surveying efficiency and flexibility is increased by the vessel’s high speed, large fuel volume, extensive storage capacity, good fuel consumption, and extended weather window.
A fully integrated spare equipment set and a new advanced on-board processing system will enhance the quality and improve the delivery time for EM data, according to EMGS.
3D GoM survey under way
null
TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. says it plans to have data from its multi-client 3D “Hernando” survey covering 300 OCS blocks in the DeSoto Canyon area available before the March 2009 Gulf of Mexico lease sale. The MVBOS Arctic is scheduled to complete the acquisition in May 2009. Project deliverables will include pre-stack time migration as well as anisotropic Kirchhoff and wave equation pre-stack depth migrations. Gravity data is also being collected. “The Hernando survey will provide 3D data over a geological trend that was actively leased in the last Central Gulf of Mexico lease sale and also an area that has not been available for exploration during the last 20 years,” says Kim Abdallah, vice president of New Ventures for TGS.
Geosciences training in Africa moves forward
The AfricaArray program designed to raise the capacities of African universities to train geoscientists is moving into Phase II of its 10-year program.
Phase 1 (2004-2007), focused on revitalizing the geophysics program at the University of Witwatersrand. Phase II will run to 2010 and aims to build centers of excellence in geophysics at other universities in Africa and to expand a seismic network developed in Phase 1. The network consists of 30 seismic stations in 13 countries, mainly in eastern and southern Africa but with two stations in Cameroon in western Africa.
In Phase II, the program will try to expand the number of seismic stations to 50, including 10 in West Africa, and will seek to expand the areas of geosciences to support research and training in groundwater hydrology, geochemistry, and geology, as well as meteorology.
Since 2004, the AfricaArray program has raised about $3.5 million from the US National Science Foundation and $1.5 million or more from the South African National Research Foundation. Funding also comes from projects like one for the US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration, for which students help identify natural seismic events.
