Roundup: Challenger Energy, TGS, DUG, Eco Atlantic & Fugro share latest seismic updates
This news compilation highlights some of the latest geoscience project updates happening across the offshore energy sector.
DUG forms Brazilian joint venture
Australia-based DUG Technology has established a new joint venture (JV), DUG DO Brasil, to provide geoscience services to clients in Latin America.
Carlos Eiffel Arbex Belem has been named Brazil country manager.
The JV will work with DUG's Houston office, under the direction of Mike Christiansen, regional geoscience manager, Americas.
DUG DO Brasil will offer the company’s full range of technologies including DUG Elastic Multi-parameter Full Waveform Inversion Imaging; seismic processing, imaging and interpretation software; and cloud-based high performance computing.
Uruguay partners assessing 3D seismic plans
Uruguay’s Ministry of Environment is holding public consultations on issuing environmental permits for a proposed 3D seismic acquisition campaign over various offshore exploration licenses.
Challenger Energy, a partner to Chevron, expects to receive permission to allow acquisition to start over the AREA OFF-1 license early this October.
The partnership, along with several other operators, are in talks with seismic contractors for their planned surveys, Challenger added. The main goal is to optimize timing of the 3D seismic program based on weather, acquisition parameters and integrated operations.
As for Challenger’s 100%-operated Uruguay AREA OFF-3, reprocessing is virtually complete of 1,250 km of 3D seismic data from a previously acquired bp survey. Also finished are new satellite seep and slick, seabed geochemistry study and multi-beam echo sound surveys.
The next stage of the work program is underway, involving technical analysis and interpretation ahead of updated mapping, prospect definition and volumetrics. Challenger expects to complete these activities by early July, supporting its formal farm-out process for the license during the second half of 2025.
Eastern Med acquisition starting soon
TGS has won a new 90-day 4D streamer contract in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The company expects to start acquisition before mid-year.
Eco close to assuming control of offshore South Africa exploration block
Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas has acquired 3D and 2D legacy data over Block 1 in the Orange Basin offshore South Africa, from Petroleum Agency South Africa.
The company’s subsidiary Azinam South Africa is close to securing regulatory approval to acquire a 75% operated interest in the block from Tosaco Energy.
Block 1, covering 19,929 sq km, is next to the median line with a Namibian border. It extends from the coast to 175 km offshore, then to ~263 km into deep water, in water depths ranging from 200 m to 1,000 m.
Eco views the acreage as geologically analogous to the BW Energy-operated Kudu gas field offshore Namibia to the north.
The acquired data package comprises two 3D seismic surveys totalling 3,500 sq km and 20,000+ line km of 2D seismic, plus logs for the previously drilled AF-1, AO-1 and AE-1 exploration wells drilled by Soekor in the late 1980s.
AF-1 was a gas discovery that flowed 32.4 MMcf/d on test, while AE-1 encountered gas shows and oil indications.
Fugro donates survey equipment to CSIRO
Fugro has donated two of its EdgeTech Deep Tow survey systems to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, to support global ocean science initiatives.
The survey systems are capable of operating at depths up to 6,000 m and were previously used by Fugro in the deep waters of the Southern Indian Ocean during the search for MH370. Fugro no longer needs them in daily operations, and the systems will now be used onboard CSIRO’s Investigator research vessel. The vessel will be conducting ocean and environmental research such as high-resolution deepsea mapping and the study of biodiversity in deepwater benthic habitats.
