Offshore staff
(Norway) - Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) will build a new third-generation Ramform vessel at Aker Yards, Langsten. PGS has signed an agreement of main commercial terms to build the vessel for an agreed cost of approximately $85 million, which includes installation, but not purchase cost, of seismic equipment.
The agreement is subject to satisfactory completion of a final contract and board approval in Aker Yards.
The new Ramform is scheduled for delivery in the 1Q 2008, in time for the North Sea season. PGS will also have an option to build a sister vessel at the same yard. Aker Yards has constructed all of PGS' six existing Ramform vessels, demonstrating a track record for timely and cost effective construction of this advanced design. This is the first PGS new build since the delivery of Ramform Vanguard in 1999.
The third-generation Ramform design builds on the company's capabilities in 3D seismic acquisition. The vessel will be lengthened by approximately 16 m, giving higher fuel capacity and transit speed. A substantial power upgrade will significantly increase speed while surveying. The vessel will be capable of towing up to 22 streamers. A range of technology improvements will be implemented to maintain or improve efficiency of handling, deployment, retrieval and maintenance of the in sea equipment.
PGS considers the new vessel a key step in the implementation of its HD3D technical strategy. HD3D matches customer demands of clearer and more precise reservoir images by collecting subsurface data at up to eight times the density of conventional 3D surveys. To carry this out in a cost-effective manner, HD3D vessels need to deploy massive arrays of closely-spaced streamers. The third-generation Ramform will be able to extend that capability even beyond existing limits. This is the market segment which has experienced the highest growth in recent years.
PGS also considers this new vessel to be an important step in the context of fleet renewal in the seismic industry. There has been little investment in new capacity over the last few years, and much of the capacity recently added or planned in the near future is older tonnage reintroduced to the market or converted from other purposes to seismic surveys.
As customer and technology demands drive the seismic business forward in the years ahead, fleet investment is required to meet those demands at the same time as substituting for the inevitable attrition of obsolete capacity.
PGS President and CEO, Svein Rennemo commented on the announcement by saying, "The third generation Ramform represents a great step forward in seismic acquisition capability. The Ramform concept provides a competitive acquisition platform with high productivity and low unit cost on conventional surveys combined with unique capabilities in high density/high streamer count operation. This advanced vessel will ensure that PGS maintains its leadership in seismic acquisition technology, allowing us to deploy streamer spreads of extreme size and flexibility."
Rennemo concluded, "In the process of evaluating new builds, we have looked into all other new build vessel concepts available in the market for charter, but have found none which meet our demanding criteria for success in this market for both near and long term.
Based upon current and forecasted bidding and award activity, demand for marine seismic services will be very strong over the next two years. Although significant additional capacity will come into the industry we believe that demand fundamentals longer term will support advanced high productivity capacity like the new generation Ramforms."
03/21/2006
