Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) submitted a Declaration of Commerciality (DoC) for oil and gas accumulations in the Carioca area, located in the Santos basin pre-salt. The new field will now be known as “Lapa.” The DoC was submitted to the Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum…
CGG and Spectrum are jointly launching a large, high-end BroadSeisTM 3D multi-client survey program offshore Brazil that will focus on a large proportion of open acreage in the very promising Foz do Amazonas Basin. The two companies are working as equal partners on this project…
A group comprised of 17 oil and gas companies, led by Statoil, has established a project for joint seismic acquisition in the southeastern Barents Sea. At the request of the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy (MPE), the industry…
Marine seismic surveying in the Arctic presents many challenges. Conducting streamer surveys in the presence of high ice concentrations eliminates the ability to safely tow a conventional GPS tail buoy. When conducting 2D surveys under these conditions…
E&P majors BP and Statoil presented their views on future exploration prospects in the Arctic. Meg Chesshyre reports. Representatives from BP and Statoil discussed both the challenges associated with and future plans for developing Arctic…
Declining reserves from mature fields worldwide, the ongoing demand for oil, and retreating sea ice have brought a flurry of exploration activity to the Arctic. The US Geological Survey estimates undiscovered Arctic petroleum resources of 90 billion bbls of oil and 1…
WesternGeco christened the company’s latest seismic vessel, the Amazon Warrior. Paul Bidmead shares insights. Efficient acquisition of high quality marine seismic data requires very large spreads of specialized in-sea equipment deployed…
Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam, part of Damen Shipyards Group, has agreed a contract to build an additional seismic research support vessel for Rederij Groen. The latest contract follows last month’s order for two new seismic research support vessels (SRSVs)…
OMV and its partners have announced the completion of the largest 3D seismic survey in the Black Sea. The survey, covering 7740sq km, in the 1-21 Han-Asparuh block,offshore Bulgaria, is also OMV's largest survey. Interpretation of…
After a decade of R&D spanning the globe, a new class of marine seismic technology has now been commercially deployed. Nina Rach spoke with Chris Cunnell of Schlumberger. In an ideal world, a seismic survey would have a grid of sensors across the full area of interest…
Transboundary may head to committee The US Senate bill ratifying the US-Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbon Agreement, S. 812, is reportedly on its way to a conference committee. The Senate’s version of the bill, passed last month (October)…
TGS, in partnership with BGP, has started acquisition of 2D seismic, gravity and magnetic multi-client surveys offshore Madagascar using the M/V Challenger. The surveys, MAJ-13 and MS-14, will add 7025 km of new 2D seismic data to extend and infill the existing 33…
CGG has been selected to carry out a large high-end seismic acquisition survey in the Gulf of Mexico on behalf of Pemex. The survey, in Mexican waters, is phase 5 in Pemex’s Centauro program, the largest ever proprietary 3D wide-azimuth program to be conducted worldwide…
Innovate or die. Newer and better tech is always needed in the oil & gas industry –even when companies aren’t exactly shouting to be first in line, OE asked: “How can technology innovation improve?” The offshore opportunity is vast…
UK-based exploration firm Sterling Energy, has provided an update on activities in its Ambilobe and Ampasindava blocks, offshore Madagascar. A 1314km 2D seismic acquisition program was completed on the Ampasindava Block in December 2013…