Norwegian seismic equipment supplier inApril has completed a full-scale sea trial of its node-based seabed seismic acquisition system Venator from 17-23 August.
InApril says Venator is the first seabed-based exploration tool to provide superior data to conventional towed streamer solutions at competitive terms.
The system, which features fast, fully hands-free handling and flexible node spacing, was tested in 110m water depth over a part of the Edvard Grieg field (PL 338), operated by Lundin Petroleum, in the Norwegian North Sea. The node used was inApril’s A3000 node, suitable for both deep and shallow water operations.
The trial repeatedly demonstrated "node-on-a-rope" deployment speeds of 5–6 knots and retrieval speeds at 3–4 knots in these water depths, enabling up to 20sq km of full-azimuth data acquisition per day in exploration mode.
Read more: Starting from the (ocean) bottom
InApril says preliminary results confirm the excellent data quality. Data processing will be carried out in the coming weeks.
Vidar Hovland, CEO of inApril, said: "The market has been waiting to see if we can deliver what we promised. Now we have documented that Venator offers a game-changing, cost-effective, and fully automated exploration and reservoir characterization tool. The system is flexible and can be containerized for mobilization to a variety of vessels for a range of offshore seismic applications and water depths."
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