Marine seismic services firm Shearwater GeoServices has signed a multi-year global agreement for the purchase of geophysical data acquisition services by WesternGeco, and the award of a survey in Australia under the new agreement.
The agreement enables access to Shearwater’s acquisition technologies and global fleet of seismic vessels.
“The new frame agreement with WesternGeco enables both companies to move quickly to respond to client needs and market opportunities,” said Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater. “With our fleet of modern seismic vessels and global reach, we can efficiently scale up to meet client requirements as demand increases.”
The survey award, in the Bonaparte Basin offshore Australia, will last approximately two-and-a-half months and will be conducted by Shearwater's Geo Coral vessel, equipped with a multi-component sensor system. The survey is subject to regulatory approvals in Australia.
The objective of the proposed seismic survey is to provide an improved subsurface image of the eastern flank of the Vulcan Sub-basin and Londonderry High. The new data will provide an improved understanding of the subsurface, which to-date has been limited due to legacy surveys being unable to resolve shallow carbonate intervals and complex faulting, Shearwater said.
Ultimately the new data will provide improved confidence in mapping major geological units aiding in the identification and de-risking of petroleum prospectively across the seismic survey area, the company said.
Demand for seismic services rising
In addition, Shearwater today provided an update on backlog development reflecting rising demand for towed streamers and seabed seismic.
"Following the great quarterly order intake to date, in the third quarter of 2022, the company’s total revenue backlog stands at a record USD $870 million," Shearwater said.
“With this latest award in Australia, Shearwater have successfully secured 52 months of new contracts across both streamer and seabed markets so far in the third quarter alone,” said Irene Waage Basili, CEO of Shearwater. “This is an all-time-high of new business for us in such a short time span, reflecting a combination of improving market fundamentals as oil and gas companies increase investments and our disciplined approach to having visibility on duration and pricing when bringing additional capacity into the market.”