OHM heads for the Falklands

Offshore staff

(UK)- Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc (OHM) has been awarded a contract by Rockhopper Exploration plc to conduct a Controlled Source Electromagnetic Survey (CSEM) over a number of prospects in the North Falkland basin.

One of these, a shallow water survey in less than 200 m of water, will be conducted in early 2006. This marks one of the first shallow water contracts by OHM since they launched their shallow water CSEM service in November, and the first time that CSEM will be used in the Falkland Islands.

CSEM has previously been viewed as most effective in deep waters, but OHM has designed a method that overcomes the challenges of using the technology in shallow waters. They report that it can now be used in depths as shallow as 50 m.

This development is no doubt good news for several companies who were recently awarded licensed exploration acreage from the government of the Falkland Islands. The water depths of these awarded regions go as deep as 3,000 m, but in some areas are as shallow as 100 to 500 m.

For Rockhopper, the upcoming survey will increase their understanding of the prospects in their 100% held licensed acreage. Sam Moody, managing director for Rockhopper, commented on the contract award: "We are very excited to be moving our exploration program forward using this new technique. OHM's recent announcement confirming the effectiveness of the electromagnetic method in shallow water was key for us."

He closed by saying, "We believe this OHM survey, combined with our already commissioned 2D survey, will lead to a significant step forward in our understanding of this acreage by the end of 1Q 2006."

12/21/2005