Eastern GoM seismic survey continues ahead of schedule

Offshore staff

HOUSTON -- GGS-Spectrum has completed Phase 1 of its Big Wave multi-client seismic survey in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The acquisition of Phase 3 is ahead of schedule, according to the company, with more than 11,000 km (6,835 mi) of data being processed.

Big Wave is being acquired in advance of the lease sales in the region scheduled for late 2008 and early 2009. Both Phase 1 and Phase 3 of the survey have attracted substantial oil company interest and pre-funding, according to GGS-Spectrum, which it says is expected to increase as the lease sales get closer.

The 30,000-km (18,641-mi) 2D seismic survey includes:

10,000 km (6,214 mi) of seismic data for Phase 1 was acquired offshore west coast of Florida and was completed in Aug. 2007, with processing to finish in Sept. 2007

11,000 km (6,835 mi) of seismic data for Phase 3 has been acquired and currently is being processed

9,000 km (5,592 mi) of remaining Phase 3 data will be acquired by the end of 2007.

"Big Wave is the first modern seismic survey to cover the Lloyd Ridge, Henderson, and Florida Plain areas of the eastern Gulf of Mexico," says Derek Skoyles, president of GGS-Spectrum USA. "Initial interpretation of the Phase 1 data shows excellent geological structures and a substantial thickness of sediments."

"Our PSDM technology has proved to be effective in imaging areas around salt bodies, which is of particular interest because of the many salt sections in the region," says David Royands, director of GGS-Spectrum UK.

GGS-Spectrum acquired the Big Wave data with a 10-km (6-mi) streamer and to a record length of 14 secs. Processing is being done at the company's center in Houston with pre-stack time (PSTM) and pre-stack depth migration (PSDM) sequences. TheGGS-Atlantic is being used to acquire the seismic data.

9/12/2007