TGS to acquire 3D seismic survey in GoM

Offshore staff

(GoM) - TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Co. (TGS) will acquire a new multi-client 3D seismic survey in the areas of Garden Banks, Keathley Canyon, Green Canyon, and Walker Ridge located offshore Louisiana and Texas in the GoM.

Covering approximately 600 deepwater OCS blocks (14,000 sq km), the new program, named "Stanley," focuses on an area of expected high lease turnover over the next several years.

Forty percent (40%) of the current leases are scheduled to expire over the next three years with 22% of existing leases expiring in 2007.

Currently, 24% of the OCS blocks are available for leasing.

TheMV Polar Search will begin data acquisition in early April 2006.

An area covering approximately 200 OCS blocks will be recorded, processed, and delivered in advance of the 2007 Central GoM OCS Lease Sale.

Acquisition of the entire 600-block project is expected to last approximately 13 months.

Kim Abdallah, VP of NSA New Ventures, says, "The complex geology in the Stanley area has historically been extremely challenging to properly image.

"TGS will incorporate 9,000-m streamer offsets and a host of advanced pre-stack imaging techniques to generate multiple output volumes, including both wave equation and Kirchhoff pre-stack depth products.

"Utilization of advanced technology in concert with the turnover of leases in the area will provide TGS and its clients a commercially significant project for advancing exploration in this difficult area for quite some time."

Confirming the demand for new data in this region, Stanley is supported by substantial customer underwriting.

03/03/06