Norwegian offshore seismic data acquisition company PGS has said that the first data of its Peru MegaSurvey is now available.
The seismic dataset, including 2D and 3D data, is aimed at E&P companies interested in South America, specifically Peruvian coastline hydrocarbon potential.
"Targeting the extensive coastline of Peru, this PGS MegaSurvey comprises 21 000 sq. km of 3D seismic matched and merged together with approximately 23 000 km of 2D data. A time-processed dataset is now available," PGS said Wednesday.
Depth processing is ongoing using a seismic-horizon-constrained velocity model through five different basins, from the prolific Talara basin in the north to the frontier basins in the extreme south. Depth results are expected in Q1 2021.
"MegaSurveys are very large, merged, post-stack datasets consisting of multiple surveys that have been rebinned to a common grid and then matched to produce a phase-balanced and uniformly scaled contiguous regional volume. Their regional nature permits fuller exploration of tectonic and basin developments, leading to a greater understanding of existing and potential petroleum systems," PGS explained.
The PGS Peru MegaSurvey covers both existing discoveries and licensing opportunities in open blocks, revealing analogs of existing interests.
"[The Peru MegaSurvey data] can be used to pick prospects or to evaluate the successes and failures so far across the entire region. Field-scale geological understanding can now be placed in a basin-wide context," PGS said.
Earlier this year, Peru had high hopes in Karoon Energy's Marina-1 offshore exploration well, the first-ever well in the deep-water section of the under-explored Tumbes basin.
Karoon spudded what was believed to be a 256 million barrel prospect Marina-1 using the Stena Forth drillship late in January. However, the company's partner in the block, Tullow Oil, in February said the well had reached Total Depth "and has not encountered significant hydrocarbons."
Tullow at the time said that despite the setback, it was building an extensive exploration position in Peru and remained positive about Peru's wider offshore exploration potential."