TGS, Viridien setting the stage for frontier exploration in two Brazilian deepwater basins

TGS is expanding its seismic data coverage offshore northeast Brazil.

In a news release of September 18, the company said that one of its Ramform Titan vessels had started acquisition in June of the PAMA Phase II 3D multi-client survey in the Equatorial Margin area.

The first phase covered 19,343 sq km and more than 25 exploration blocks to be offered in future for licensing across the little explored.

PAMA Phase II will expand coverage by around 11,500 sq km, and will include blocks currently under nomination for license rounds scheduled for 2026 and 2027. The vessel, which should complete the survey early next March, is equipped with TGS GeoStreamer technology.

According to the company, the Pará-Maranhao basin appears to have a functioning deepwater petroleum system in the Cretaceous and Paleogene layers. Interest has grown following the discoveries to the west offshore Guyana and Suriname.

TGS has two further Ramform Titan vessels on gathering duty for the Megabar Extension Phase 1 3D project in the Equatorial Margin’s Barreirinhas basin, under a partnership with Viridien announced in a news release of September 4.

Viridien will perform imaging of the 5,300 sq km of multi-client data. The existing Megabar, 14,000-sq km Broadbeis survey was acquired over water depths ranging from 200 to 3,300 m.

IOCs are said to be monitoring developments following their recent licensing activity along Brazil’s offshore equatorial margin, and the country’s recent 5th Cycle Permanent Concession Offer.

Megabar Extension Phase I is being acquired over an area with geological potential but no 3D data coverage. Ramform Tethys will deploy TGS’ GeoStreamer for the campaign which is due to last until late November.

Viridien’s subsurface team will use the company’s Time-Lag Full-Waveform Inversion (TL-FWI) and Reverse Time Migration (RTM) technologies for the imaging. The goals are to identify new play potential, improve prospect assessment evaluation and de-risk future exploration.

First imaging products are due to be released by Q3 2026, followed by final data early in 2027.