GEOSCIENCES
Gene Kliewer - Houston
PGS pushes multi-client 2D to forefront
Petroleum Geo-Services is increasing investment in multi-client 2D seismic data acquisition through this year. PGS says it is targeting less mature basins worldwide in offshore areas such as the Andaman Sea, Indonesia, and Kenya.
The company acquired several 2D campaigns using GeoStreamer offshore the North West Shelf of Australia, Trinidad, and the Gulf of Mexico. A large GeoStreamer program also was set for offshore Cyprus. In total, 37,282 line mi (60,000 line km) of 2D are planned for 2008.
Looking into 2009, PGS landed a contract from StatoilHydro for a series of surveys in the summer of 2009. The $100-million contract includes use of four PGS vessels, starting with theRamform Sterling scheduled for delivery in July 2009. It will be able to operate both steerable streamers and also steerable sources.
PGS says its GeoStreamer system will be used in 3D mode for enhanced resolution and deeper penetration.
Other StatoilHydro plans. As part of its total 2009 seismic spending of $231 million, StatoilHydro will explore the Norwegian continental shelf plus the Faroes and Ireland. The individual contracts out of the total have gone to PGS Geophysical, CGG Veritas, and Wavefield Inseis for four, two, and one vessel, respectively.
The work includes 2D, 3D, and 4D exploration, with an emphasis on 3D, StatoilHydro says.
Company news
TGS-NOPEC has a letter of intent with Bergen Oilfield Services for the recently converted 3D seismic vessel M/V BOS Arctic to begin this November and last one year. TGS says this will give it three 3D vessels under charter for all or part of 2009.
Fugro GeoTeam will conduct a 1,650 sq km (637 sq mi) 3D marine seismic survey offshore Guyana in the Georgetown prospecting license under contract to YPF Guyana Ltd.
“Fugro’s seismic vesselGeo Pacific will begin activities late this September,” says Kerry Sully, president and CEO of CGX Energy Inc. which holds a 25% interest in the license. “These seismic activities will be jointly conducted with CGX’s previously announced 536 sq km (207 sq mi) 3D program on the adjoining Corentyne PPL, in which CGX holds a 100% interest.”
CGGVeritas opened a UK Center of Excellence to combine its London and Crawley office capacities. New and upgraded facilities include a state-of-the-art visualization center, visual meeting rooms, and the latest in IT infrastructure
The center hosts research and development teams working with processing groups on fast, efficient deployment of new technologies. The new center is also the EAME headquarters for CGGVeritas business lines including Marine Acquisition, Data Library, Data Services, and Reservoir Services.
ODIM reports award of a NOK 65-million ($12-million) contract for a complete automated 3D seismic handling system for a new vessel. The purchaser was not released, but the system is to be delivered in 2009.
Wavefield Inseis ASA says the high-capacity 3D vessel Geowave Endeavour was delivered on schedule from the Fosen Yard to begin its seven-year time charter for Volstad Maritime.
The vessel was scheduled to complete the North Sea season for BG Norge and then continue on one of the world’s largest 3D seismic contracts for BP in Libya, estimated to be completed end of 2009.
Fugro has created Fugro Gravity & Magnetic Services (FGMS). It becomes the business development arm of Fugro Airborne Surveys, Fugro Ground Geophysics, and Fugro Robertson (marine); and will provide a spectrum of tools including the FALCON airborne gravity gradiometry and Fugro-LCT Software.
“The formation of FGMS will allow us to tie together the whole spectrum of gravity and magnetic services – data acquisition and processing, interpretation, multi-client offerings, and software for marine, land, and airborne applications,” says Mark Weber, president of the new entity.
Seismic Micro-Technology (SMT) is collaborating with NVIDIA Corp. to improve the performance of SMT Kingdom software using NVIDIA Quadro graphics cards.
The integration of NVIDIA technology with SMT’s software is designed to allow novice and experienced users to hasten develop subsurface models.
This agreement gives SMT customers access to NVIDIA CUDA technology, a C-compiler and software development kit that allows software developers to tap into the parallel architecture of the GPU. Running CUDA on Quadro can process and visualize large amounts of geoscientific data in real-time, instead of minutes or hours, SMT says.
SCAN wins its largest-ever survey
SCAN Geophysical ASA won its largest ever seismic contract for $70 million to cover 3,300 sq km (1,274 sq mi) offshore Venezuela for Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA).
This is the second award from PDVSA to SCAN recently and adds 3D seismic in the Dragon Norte region.