Business news for the week of 15 April 2009

Past news briefs

StatoilHydro renews Stavanger dedicated center
8 April 2009—CGGVeritas announced that it has been awarded a multiyear, dedicated, in-house processing contract by StatoilHydro to perform seismic data processing and imaging services in its Stavanger office in Norway.

The dedicated processing center will enable CGGVeritas to deliver innovative processing and imaging technology including 4D time-lapse and subsurface imaging services to StatoilHydro. This award follows the completion of a similar contract held by CGGVeritas since 2006.

SMT announces its Kingdom software now supports Windows Vista
14 April 2009—SMT announced that the company’s Kingdom software now supports customers on Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating system.

In some internal benchmarks, performance has been shown to be three times faster when running Windows Vista and 64-bit. SMT’s support for Windows Vista also integrates with the enhanced security and manageability features within the platform.

SCAN Geophysical receives LOI from Petrobras
14 April 2009—SCAN Geophysical announced that the company has received confirmation and a letter of intent from Petrobras Middle East for its dedicated 2D vessel M/V GEO SEARCHER to acquire approximately 2500 km of 2D data for Petrobras in the Caribbean region, with mobilization set for early May 2009.

The GEO SEARCHER will acquire 120-fold high-density 2D data. This modern 2D seismic vessel is equipped to use ultralong streamers for high-end 2D applications including wide-offset and large-source configurations for 2D surveys worldwide.

AGI announces Earth Science Week 2009 theme
14 April 2009—The American Geological Institute is announcing that “Understanding Climate” is the  theme for the 2009 Earth Science Week.

Climate is perhaps the most visible Earth science topic in the news. Climate affects humans today just as it has for millions of years. It is also pivotal in understanding how the dynamics of our planet function across different scales of time and space. Earth Science Week 2009 will engage students, educators, and the general public in understanding all the factors driving climate and the role climate plays in the history of Earth and humankind.

AGI coordinates Earth Science Week annually in cooperation with its sponsors and the geoscience community as a service to the public. Each year, community groups, educators, and interested citizens organize celebratory events. Earth Science Week offers the public opportunities to discover the earth sciences and engage in responsible stewardship of the Earth. Earth Science Week is supported by the U.S. Geological Survey, the AAPG Foundation, and the broader geoscience community through grassroots activities.

Knowledge Reservoir announces major upgrade to its deepwater Gulf of Mexico knowledge base – ReservoirKB
14 April 2009—Knowledge Reservoir announced the 2009 release of its deepwater Gulf of Mexico knowledge base, ReservoirKB.

This latest release of ReservoirKB features upgrades to the Web-based service, including a new GIS interface. The new interface incorporates advances in system design, targeted at maximizing navigation efficiency for users seeking specific information on deepwater reservoirs.

ReservoirKB currently represents a knowledge base directed towards exploration and appraisal geoscientists and engineers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico region. It provides coverage of all deepwater productive sands discovered, constituting reservoirs currently either in production or sanctioned for development. Additionally, it provides continually updated reservoir performance metrics, analogs, lessons learned, and regional knowledge. The knowledge base provides a unique combination of reservoir engineering data, geological description, and production data analysis.

GeoSwath sonars play a key role in South Australia port development
15 April 2009—Two GeoSwath wide-swath bathymetric sonars are being used for regular hydrographic port surveys around the South Australian coast, providing bathymetry and side-scan data for use in the development and maintenance of this important national infrastructure. Recent projects include the pre-, progress-, and post-dredge monitoring of the major shipping channels to Port Adelaide and Port Giles, which were deepened to accommodate panamax vessels.

HydroSurvey Australia is the hydrographic survey business arm of Flinders Ports, with the core task of performing recurrent surveys of navigational channels and berths for design and maintenance purposes. As well as using the GeoSwath data for planning future port developments, this survey program is an integral part of Flinders Ports’ risk mitigation strategy. HydroSurvey now carries out regular navigational hydrographic work at all the main shipping ports and minor boat havens in South Australia, over 100 km of channels and 50 berths. 

As a core part of their expanding range of survey equipment HydroSurvey has taken delivery of a second GeoSwath interferometric sonar from GeoAcoustics. The wide swath width demonstrated by their first GeoSwath allowed rapid survey coverage in shallow waters, resulting in significant productivity gains and achieving total insonification over large areas, with sounding data exceeding IHO S44 special order survey standard for depth accuracy.