GETECH leads rescue of exploration data for Iraq's 4th licensing round 10 October 2011—GETECH announced its exclusive agreement with the Iraqi Ministry of Industry and Minerals to compile and market gravity and aeromagnetic data sets to assist oil companies considering bids for the 12 exploration blocks on offer in the round which completes in January next year. The data are particularly vital because Iraq's fourth round is inviting the international oil industry for the first time in four decades to explore for the country's hydrocarbons, which rank as the third largest potential oil reserves in the world. Although the available seismic data coverage over the blocks is generally good, the vintage of the data and potential lack of penetration could mean that only shallow structures are being imaged, whilst deeper structures that relate to basement structures are not necessarily being seen. GETECH and Iraqi petroleum authorities believe the gravity and magnetic data could be especially significant for modelling subsurface structures from the shallow Alpine fold and fault in north and northeast Iraq to the deeper basement controlled antiforms and grabens identified in south and west Iraq. A major part of the gravity data were originally collected between 1945 and 1959 for the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), by a consortium of Exxon, BP, Shell, Total, and Partex which was nationalised in 1972. In the mid 1990s, GETECH was asked by the original IPC partners to rescue the data from the lock-up garage and reprocess them into a unified computerised database. The data were in their original form as field notebooks, hand written field sheets, and maps relating to 90 survey camps spread out throughout Iraq. Last year IPC agreed to release the digital gravity data processed by GETECH to the Geological Survey of Iraq, (GEOSURV). Subsequently GETECH was requested by GEOSURV in December 2010 to compile an integrated and unified gravity and aeromagnetic database for Iraq in time for the 4th Licensing Round. The country wide re-compilation of over 120,000 gravity stations and 184,000 line km of aeromagnetic data was completed in June 2011. The legacy aeromagnetic data incorporated in the new integrated set, originating from a national Iraq airborne survey flown in 1973/74, also had to be rescued. As a result of the turmoil in Iraq, storage of the magnetic tape archive was improperly maintained and found to be suffering from "sticky tape syndrome." Fortunately with U.S. funding during 2010, 98% of the aeromagnetic data from the tapes was recovered and reprocessed by GETECH.
TGS announces new 3D multiclient seismic survey offshore Northwest Australia 10 October 2011—TGS will commence acquisition of a new 3D multiclient seismic survey in November 2011 which covers 9700 km2 over the Exmouth Plateau in the Carnarvon Basin, offshore NW Australia. The survey area is adjacent to existing large gas discoveries and covers newly available acreage in blocks WA-364-P, WA-365-P, and WA-367-P. The seismic data will be acquired by the M/V Viking Vision, and the survey will be complete in early 2012. A fast track volume will be available to the industry in mid 2012 with final data available for the full survey in early 2013.
New charter agreements by Dolphin Group 18 October 2011—Dolphin Group ASA announced that it will enter into an agreement with Sanco Shipping AS regarding a five-year chartering agreement for Sanco Swift, a 16-streamer seismic vessel currently under construction at Kleven Maritime, Norway, with delivery in June 2013. As part of the agreement, Dolphin will acquire the streamer package to be installed on Sanco Swift, expected to have a total cost of approximately US $55 million. Dolphin also confirms that it will exercise the option to charter Polar Duchess from Rieber Shipping AS, with expected start of production in April 2012. Dolphin has retained SEB Enskilda, Pareto Securities and First Securities to advise on and effect a contemplated private placement of new shares raising gross proceeds of up to US $35 million (NOK 195 million). The proceeds from the private placement will be used to finance the equity part of the streamer package for Sanco Swift as well as working capital. Following the Private Placement, Dolphin's management is confident on securing the required seismic equipment financing for M/V Duchess. Up to 59.176 million of the shares issued under the Private Placement will be issued pursuant to the authorization to the Board of Directors established at Dolphin's Extraordinary General Meeting held on 20th December 2011, while the remainder will be issued subject to the approval and authorization by the extraordinary general meeting expected to be held 10 November 2011. The subscription price will be set through a bookbuilding process. The application period commences on 17 October 2011 at 17:30 (CET) and will close on 18 October 2011 at 08:00 hours (CET). The company may however, at any time resolve to close or extend the application period at its own discretion. Certain existing shareholders have committed to subscribe for a substantial part of the private placement. Dolphin management has committed to subscribe for approximately US $1 million.
KMS array EM system used in seven countries on four continents 17 October 2011—KMS Technologies announced the use of its new hardware in seven countries. The array acquisition system, KMS-820 has been used in seven different countries and across four different continents including Asia, India, Europe, and North America. Various geophysical applications including magnetotelluric (MT), LOTEM, and microseismic for personnel motion detection are carried out with it. The new system which dubbed as "Portable EM" by World Oil in May 2011 issue highlights some compelling features such as GPS-synchronized, wireless control capability, 6-channel counts, 24-bit A/D resolution, and up to 100-KHz sampling rate. As options to the existing system, the system is also available in 32 bit, Bluetooth and Wifi.
RXT launches Brazilian joint venture 17 October 2011—Reservoir Exploration Technology (RXT) announced the official launch of its Brazil-based joint venture GeoRXT. The objective of the joint venture with Georadar Levantamentos Geofisicos (Georadar), a Brazilian provider of geoscience and geotechnical services, is to capitalize on RXT`s multicomponent seismic capability in the prospective markets of South America, Angola, and some parts of the Middle East. Under the joint venture agreement signed in August, GeoRXT (a Dutch joint venture holding) will run of RXT's operations in Brazil under managing director Celso Carvalho Magalhães. The intention is to employ in the new company the RXT's Crew 5 which recently completed a two-year program of OBC seismic surveys for Brazilian state oil company Petrobras. GeoRXT is also to be guaranteed access to the dedicated OBC vessels Sanco Star and Ocean Europe which have been responsible for RXT's offshore Brazil operations.
Dolphin Geophysical extends contract on Explorer for 12 months 13 October 2011—Dolphin Geophysical has extended the charter party agreement for the seismic vessel Polar Explorer for an additional period of 12 months, commencing January 2012. The vessel is a 2D/ice class seismic vessel, which was rebuilt in 2004 and the vessel has been under charter to Dolphin Geophysical since January 2011.
TGS commences a 3D Survey in Barents Sea in 2011 17 October 2011—TGS has commenced acquisition of a 3D multiclient survey covering 1500 km2 between the Finnmark Platform and Nordkapp Basin in the Barents Sea. The 150-km long survey follows the bended strike direction of the inverted margin between the two major structural elements in the region. The new seismic data are being acquired by the M/V Polar Duke. The data will be processed by TGS and available to clients by mid 2012.
PanAmerican Geophysical establishes operational headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 17 October 2011—PanAmerican Geophysical Company Limited, a North and South America focused seismic service company, has established its new operational headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to offer comprehensive resources for land seismic data acquisition.The new company, PanAmerican do Brasil, Ltda., will offer all onshore and VSP seismic services for both North and South America. Focused expansion in Brasil's rapidly growing market, will provide operational incentives and advantages for PanAmericans' clients and partners. PanAmerican do Brasil, Ltda. has appointed Fernando Roxo da Motta as its general manager. He will be based in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. Roxo da Motta has worked with a number of successful seismic data acquisition companies and has helped further evolve the technology and operations for those businesses in Brasil. Roxo da Motta, a graduate of UFRJ with a degree in Physics and a Masters in Science with a focus in Geophysics from UFBA, began his career as a systems programmer for several key financial companies and as a physics high school teacher. In 1982, Roxo da Motta was hired as a Geophysicist by Petrobras, where he worked in land seismic processing, well log and VSP processing. Over the next several years Roxo da Motta developed a number of seismic processing tools and worked with a team of experts to develop a seismic data quality assurance work-flow in connection with seismic geometry processing automation. Roxo da Motta moved to southern Brazil in 2000 to lead a commercial seismic processing venture with Conectiva Linux as their R&D Manager. From 2003 to 2009, Roxo da Motta worked as a consultant for Petrobras on projects related to high-performance computing applied to seismic processing
Paradigm expands presence in India 18 October 2011—Paradigm has opened a new office in Gurgaon, Haryana, in the greater New Delhi metropolitan area. This new office will help the company provide local sales and support services for its seismic imaging interpretation, reservoir modeling, and characterization and data management solutions, to its growing base of customers and prospects in the region. Spectrum's data sets for the 2nd Icelandic licensing round 20 October 2011—Spectrum has released details of over 10,000 km of 2D multiseismic data located over the Dreki/Jan Mayen Ridge (JMR) area offshore the northeastern coast of Iceland. These data sets are situated within the acreage being offered by the National Energy Authority of Iceland as part of the second licensing round for hydrocarbon exploration and production licenses on the Icelandic Continental Shelf. The round opened on 3 October 2011 and the application deadline is 2 April 2012.
Paradigm strengthens relationship with Spectrum 20 October 2011—Paradigm announced that Spectrum has selected the Paradigm Echos software suite as its corporate standard for carrying out seismic processing and imaging projects. The Echos suite provides Spectrum with the necessary tools to support baseline and advanced processing workflows, while embracing Spectrum's proprietary solutions. |
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