Tullow Oil is planning a 2550sq km 3D seismic survey on the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana, close to ExxonMobil’s giant Liza discovery with plans to drill on the block as early as next year.

According to partner Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas, Tullow will use WesternGeco and the survey will start in the next two weeks.

The Orinduik Block is up dip and just a few kilometers from ExxonMobil’s recent Liza and Payara discoveries confirming, by Exxon’s estimates, in excess of 1.5 billion bbl recoverable. Exxon is expected to make a final investment decision on Liza this month, with first production potentially in 2020 using a floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Tullow and Eco Atlantic have already shot 2D seismic over the block and have identified two “significant reservoir leads.” Eco Atlantic COO Colin Kinley says they believe that the block could contain discoveries comparable to the “world-class” discoveries made by Exxon nearby.

The firms were already planning a 3D survey, but it would cover just 1000sq km. The increase to 2550sq km will mean covering the entire block area, fully overlapping current prospective 2D leads and downdip trends.

Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas holds a 40% Working Interest in Orinduik, and Tullow, the operator, holds the remaining 60%.

Colin Kinley, COO and co-founder of Eco Atlantic said: “In addition to de-risking the existing two defined targets, the survey will hopefully generate additional targets on the Orinduik Block, thereby increasing the prospective oil in place and adding leads for future work programs. We were keenly interested in this region of the Guyana-Suriname Basin even prior to Exxon’s highly successful drilling program, applying for the Orinduik block in 2014 because of its highly prospective Cretaceous canyon and fan plays. We have since been excited to see Exxon continue to successfully prove out the region in its ongoing drilling program and look forward to results from our own 3D survey, which are expected to come in the next couple of months.

“The 2D interpretation has led to at least two significant reservoir leads on the Orinduik block that both we and Tullow believe may hold significant oil comparable to the world class regional discoveries identified by Exxon. Eco Atlantic expects to confirm a number of drilling targets with this increased 3D Survey, ahead of drilling of the first well in Orinduik, hopefully in 2018.”

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Global Petroleum has entered into a contract with Seabird Exploration in order to acquire 834 km of full fold 2D seismic data covering Global’s operated block (PEL 0029) in Namibia.

Global said: “WThe survey has been designed as an infill programme with the aim of providing better delineation of an extremely large, multi-level, dip closed prospect – Gemsbok -which has been mapped in the south eastern portion of the Global acreage.

“The new 2D survey is expected significantly to clarify the nature and extent of Gemsbok.

“In addition, the survey has been specifically designed to improve resolution of the deeper syn-rift section adjacent to the Gemsbok structure, as well as to provide a more accurate understanding of the deeper sedimentary sequence where it is believed potential source rocks are likely to be present.”

Global said it expected that the survey would start towards the end of June/early July and would take approximately two weeks to complete.

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6 June 2017, Limassol, Cyprus.

Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement from SeaBird on 26 May 2017 concerning the proposed restructuring of the SeaBird group, as further described in said announcement.

The bondholders’ meeting of the SBX04 bond issue has today unanimously approved the proposal for the debt restructuring, pursuant to the summons therefore. The bondholders present formed a quorum.

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CGG announced today that the final products from its Encontrado multi-client reprocessing project across the Gulf of Mexico’s prolific Perdido fold belt have been delivered on schedule to the Comision Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) and the industry.

Example of a final Kirchhoff migration image from CGG’s Encontrado multi-client reprocessing project.  Download the full size image.

The Final Reverse Time migration (RTM), Kirchhoff migration and associated data volumes covering a vast 38,000 sq km area straddling the Mexico/USA border are now available on a non-exclusive basis. The significant uplift in the imaging of these final products over the Fast Trax RTM data delivered last year is evident throughout. As a result, the prospective reservoirs can be identified and mapped in unprecedented detail. The improved depth information in the final volume also has a material impact on the understanding of the petroleum systems and the location, timing, volume and type of hydrocarbons that may have charged the reservoirs. Collectively, these improvements enable an enhanced assessment of prospectivity in this emerging exploration frontier. Given the project’s magnitude, this achievement is testament to the experience and commitment of the processing team in CGG’s Houston subsurface imaging center and the value of geoscience integration.

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The use of seismic airguns in offshore oil exploration has proved controversial, with some claiming that they may interfere with natural patterns of animals such as whales and dolphins. Now Geokinetics has completed the second successful deployment of its AquaVib Marine Vibrator, a competitor to the seismic airgun with a much lower decibel footprint. Could it solve this problem and add several other important advantages along the way?

Airguns have been an essential part of subsurface exploration in the oil and gas industry for over fifty years. By sending seismic waves down through the sea, they can collect data based on how these are reflected back allowing the construction a map of what lies below the sea floor. Little change has been made in the use of the technology throughout the years – until now.

Geokinetics has successfully completed the second deployment of its new alternative to the airgun, the AquaVib. The marine vibrator works on a similar principle as the airgun, but with some key differences, especially regarding the sound level.

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Sercel announced today that its multi-sensor solid streamer, the Sentinel® MS, has been commercially deployed for the first time and is being successfully operated
on a large 3D CGG multi-client survey being conducted by the CGG Geo Coral
in the Southern Porcupine Basin in Ireland.

The Annual General Meeting of Magseis ASA will be held on Thursday 22th June 2017 at 15:00 (CET), at the offices of Magseis at Dicks Vei 10b, 1366 Lysaker, Norway.

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In yet another sign that Newfoundland and Labrador’s oil industry is poised for growth, no fewer than 18 companies that specialize in seismic surveying have filed environmental assessments with the board that regulates the offshore.

A record amount of valuable 3D seismic data will be collected in the coming months, with one company deploying a small fleet of very specialized vessels.

It’s a unique situation in an environment where oil companies throughout the world have tightened the purse strings on exploration, with spending down by 75 per cent from just three years ago, when oil was trading at more than $100 US per barrel.

Oil is now hovering at about half that, yet oil companies continue to search for the next major find in the offshore.

“Based on the activity level here, we’re getting more than a reasonable share of that spending,” said Bob Cadigan, president and CEO of the Newfoundland and Labrador Oil and Gas Industries Association.

“It says that the eyes of explorers are on our offshore and that the prospectivity is really exciting to them.”

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