Spectrum Geo: Landmark Agreement Paves the Way for New Seychelles-Mauritius JMA Seismic
On 11th January 2018, the Joint Commission administering the Joint Management Area (JMA), located over the Mascarene Plateau between Mauritius and the Seychelles, signed an Agreement with Spectrum Geo to acquire a 20,000 km broadband 2D Multi-Client seismic survey over the JMA. This new dataset, to be acquired and processed by Spectrum, lies within exploration blocks already delineated by the proactive Joint Commission under their Hybrid Open Door Licensing System. This modern broadband seismic dataset will offer a valuable tool for those interested in exploring this area, providing unique insight into the oil and gas prospectivity of the region.
The Agreement was signed by Dr. M. R. Badal, Director General of the Mauritian Ministry of Defence and Mr. Graham Mayhew, Spectrum’s Executive Vice-President, Africa, Middle-East and Mediterranean Regions, with Mr. P. Michaud, Special Advisor to the Vice-President of Seychelles, in attendance. It is the first Agreement of its kind following the ratification of landmark treaties between the two countries in 2012 which concerned management of the continental shelf of the Mascarene Plateau Region, and extended their joint jurisdiction by 396,000 km2. Since then, Mauritius and the Seychelles have been developing a legal and institutional framework. Several documents have already been created including a Model Petroleum Agreement, Environment Code of Practice, Offshore Petroleum Safety Code, and the Joint Fiscal and Taxation Code.
Despite its location in the middle of the Indian Ocean, approximately 20% of the JMA area is in shallow water of less than 1000 m. This area is surrounded by oceanic crust of Cretaceous age, yet this shallow depth demonstrates that the crust has an anomalously low density. Spectrum has modelled gravity response over the JMA to be compatible with a fragment of the Madagascar-West Indian Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Crust.
Neil Hodgson, Executive Vice-President, Geoscience, Spectrum, commented on the unexpected prospectivity of this area, “Our basin modelling puts the potential Seychelles style pre-volcanic source rocks into the oil window; this is corroborated by the presence of high quality oil slicks above the prospective area captured on satellite data. A live working hydrocarbon system lying unexplored below the basalts across this whole area is clearly demonstrated. Modern seismic acquisition and broadband processing techniques will allow us to reveal the oil potential of this fascinating basin.”
Pre-funding opportunities for this unique seismic program are available now.