Business news for the week of 25 January 2010

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Seismic crew survey reports

Spectraseis Completes of Survey for Shell Egypt NV
26 January 2010—Spectraseis announced the completion of a low frequency (LF) seismic survey for Shell Egypt N.V in the North East Abu Gharadig (NEAG) Basin, Western Desert, Egypt.

The survey objective was to introduce LF technology in the western desert of Egypt. The project is the largest ever LF seismic synchronous survey, with 110 data points recorded over four days. The survey data are currently being processed with initial results expected in early February 2010.

The project took place with the logistical support of Ardiseis, a regional joint venture between CGGVeritas and TAQA in the Middle East region, and covered a 60 km2 area in one week using a team of 17 crew members.
 
It also saw the mobilization of 120 recording stations—the largest equipment shipment for a single LF seismic survey by Spectraseis, and featured recently launched field acquisition system, Field Office 2.0.

ffA and TerraSpark Geosciences announce agreement to mutually explore advancement of 3D seismic analysis and interpretation capabilities
30 January 2010—ffA (Foster Findlay Associates Ltd) and TerraSpark Geosciences L.P. have entered into an agreement to explore parallel research and development programs.     

The challenges faced in exploration and production today demand radically new seismic interpretation workflows. By defining rapid, accurate, and robust methods for building geologically consistent 3D representations of the subsurface, new levels of interpretation productivity and insight can be reached.


New TGS 3D project in Liberia
26 January 2010—TGS has commenced acquisition of the next phase of 3D projects offshore Liberia.  This newest project covers Liberia blocks 8 and 9 and totals 5000 km². The MV Polarcus Nadia will acquire the project and TGS will apply advanced prestack time and prestack depth-imaging techniques to create the final subsurface image.

The TGS African data library includes a series of 2D and 3D seismic projects covering the Africa Transform Margin. Recent petroleum discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea and offshore Sierra Leone have attracted significant exploration interest in this region. Upon completion of this latest project, TGS will have more than 30,000 km of 2D and 18,000 km² of 3D data covering this emerging exploration play in West Africa.

The acquisition of the survey will finish in the second quarter of 2010 and is heavily prefunded.