Petroleum Geophysical Services ASA (PGS) has launched its second Ramform Titan class vessel, the Ramform Atlas, at a naming ceremony in Nagasaki, Japan today. The vessel will typically tow a network of several hundred thousand recording sensors over an area greater than 12sq km…
Houston-based MicroSeismic Inc. purchased the US assets of Calgary-based Reservoir Imaging Inc. (RII). The acquisition includes Geospace equipment, wireline units, and equipment for downhole microseismic data acquisition services. The…
Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA signed a global framework agreement with Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. for the provision of consultancy services. The range of services covered by the agreement includes survey planning/modeling…
Croatia’s government is planning to publish tenders for oil and gas exploration in the central and southern Adriatic Sea in Q2 this year. The announcement followed the completion of a 2D multiclient seismic acquisition survey offshore…
Total has signed an exploration and production-sharing agreement for deepwater Block 41 with Oman’s Ministry of Oil & Gas, the company announced today. The block is off the northern Omani coast, northwest of the capital, Muscat. It spans 23850sq km…
Magseis AS has agreed a frame agreement to provide global ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition services for Statoil ASA from 2014–2018.The frame agreement regulates the work that has been awarded for the 2014 and 2015 seasons, as well as for future tenders during the term of the agreement…
Norwegian exploration firm Rocksource has agreed a farm-out deal with Atlantic Petroleum Norge and announced a deal for a European oil firm to buy electromagnetic data and use its software. The farm-out is an option deal with Atlantic Petroleum…
Seismic acquisition firms Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) and TGS have announced new contracts and an expanded co-operation agreement in the Barents Sea. The two firms said they will increase the number of blocks covered in the Barents Sea cooperation agreement from 11 to 17…
Fugro will provide survey services in support of Subsea 7 Australia Contracting Pty Ltd’s heavy lift and tie-ins contract on Chevron’s Gorgon Project, located about 60km offshore Western Australia. The contract involves the provision…
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…