British oil major BP has terminated the contract with the Norwegian offshore survey company EMGS for a survey in Senegal and Mauritania, where it operates the Tortue Ahmeyim offshore development.
As previously reported, EMGS had mobilized its Atlantic Guardian vessel, moving it from Mexico to Las Palmas to make it ready for the BP work in West Africa, when it was notified by BP late in March that the project would be delayed due to Covid-19.
The Atlantic Guardian vessel then started transit towards Norway for an eventual cold stack.
In an update on Tuesday, EMGS said that it was subsequently been notified by BP that the project was terminated. EMGS will receive a contractual fee of around $2 million in this connection.
Worth noting, EMGS had in February signed a letter of intent with an unnamed client for a survey in Walvis Bay, Namibia. The survey was to be carried out by the Atlantic Guardian, starting between May 1, and August 1, 2020, however, given that the vessel will now be cold stacked in Norway, this deal might be off too.
EMGS currently has one vessel in operation - the Petrel Explorer (formerly Thalassa).
The Petrel explorer had started the first quarter transiting towards Mexico in preparation for additional acquisition work connected to the two-year acquisition contract with Pemex. However, Pemex then said no additional acquisition work would be forthcoming in the near to medium future.
According to EMGS, the Petrel Explorer transited from Mexico to Norway to begin acquisition on a pre-funded multi-client survey in Norway.
Following the loss of contracts with Pemex and BP, EMGS recently announced severe cost-cutting measures.
EMGS late in March said it would terminate all employees and consultants with the exception of a skeleton crew which will continue to service the multi-client late sales and consulting market.
Further, the company will soon be without any vessels in operation as it plans to redeliver the Petrel Explorer vessel at the end of the current fixed charter period. The Petrel Explorer is on a charter from SeaBrid Exploration. According to available info, this means that the Petrel Explorer will remain with EMGS until May 31, 2020.