Geoscience firm CGG and Russia's Sovcomflot have agreed to form a joint venture company dedicated to conducting high-end 3D marine seismic acquisition services with a focus on Arctic and sub-Arctic waters.
The joint venture, to be called Arctic Geophysical Exploration (AGE), will be 51% owned by Sovcomflot and 49% owned by CGG. The company will be incorporated in Russia, with its headquarters in Moscow. Under the terms of the agreement, CGG will charter a 14-streamer ice-class vessel, while Sovcomflot will add the capabilities of an eight-streamer ice-class vessel.
The JV's aim is to offer 3D marine seismic acquisition services to operators during the Arctic navigation season, as well as advanced vessel capabilities for the remainder of the year.
CGG and Sovcomflot will have a combined total of four vessels, scheduled to operate on client projects during the 2014 Arctic navigation season, and expects the joint venture to be fully operational by Q4 2014, in order to capture the growing 3D seismic market in this region.
Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGG, said: “The Russian Arctic is an exciting new frontier that has increasingly shown its potential over the last two years. By bringing together the two companies’ strong HSE cultures, Sovcomflot’s considerable Arctic maritime experience and Russian presence along with CGG’s expertise as a leading technology provider, we believe this joint venture will create a strong vehicle for growth in this demanding region.”
Sergey Frank, President & CEO, OAO Sovcomflot, said: “By combining Sovcomflot’s in-depth knowledge and experience of operating in the Arctic with CGG’s global expertise in marine seismic operations, we have created a powerful new Russian marine seismic company able to meet the most demanding technical and operational challenges of the Arctic region, whilst also being able to offer a competitive range of seismic services internationally.”
OAO Sovcomflot (SCF Group) owns and leases 157 vessels with a combined deadweight of over 12 million tonnes. A third of these vessels have a high ice class. Sovcomflot supports large-scale offshore energy projects in Russia and overseas, including: Sakhalin-I, Sakhalin-II, Varandey, Tangguh, Escobar and Peregrino.
The company is registered in St Petersburg and has offices in Moscow, Novorossiysk, Murmansk, Vladivostok, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, London, Limassol, Madrid, Dubai and Singapore.