Subsurface Imaging, part of CGG’s Geoscience division, has delivered a step-change in subsalt image quality over the Mad Dog field in the Green Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico. CGG said that through continued investment in imaging technology and supercomputing capacity, the company was able to reduce project cycle time by almost half while delivering greatly improved subsalt images. Fast access to high-quality images was critical to BP and partners in modifying and optimizing the ongoing drilling program.
Dale
Senex and Jemena agree $50 million infrastructure deal
Senex Energy announced that it had agreed to sell its Roma North natural gas processing facility and pipeline to major energy infrastructure operator Jemena for $50 million and entered into a long-term gas tolling agreement. Senex began construction of the Roma North gas processing facility and pipeline in November 2018. Construction has been completed on-time and on-budget, with commissioning now underway. Under the terms of the agreements, Jemena will take ownership of the facility and pipeline on the achievement of agreed performance tests, expected in September 2019 (completion).
Cooper pens gas supply deals with AGL Energy
Cooper Energy has signed a new gas supply agreement with AGL Energy from its Sole (Gippsland Basin) and Casino Henry (Otway Basin) offshore gas operation. Cooper said the Sole gas field is poised to become south-east Australia’s newest source of gas supply when it starts production on completion of the Orbost Gas Plant upgrade currently being undertaken by APA Group. Cooper Energy has completed the construction of the offshore development of the Sole gas field and APA is expected to conclude the plant upgrade works and commence commissioning and delivery of sales gas within the September 2019 quarter.
Australian gas exports cutting global emissions
The importance of Australia’s natural gas exports to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions is underlined in the latest government estimate released recently with the December Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. Energy Minister Angus Taylor highlighted that Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports were saving global emissions equal to over a quarter of the country’s domestic greenhouse gas emissions. APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said this key contribution of Australia’s LNG industry was not always recognised in the broader energy debate. “The global appetite for energy is growing, with more than 1.
Senex begins Surat Basin drilling campaign
Senex Energy has begun its integrated natural gas drilling campaign, representing a major step towards full-scale production from its Surat Basin development projects. The drilling campaign comprises approximately 110 wells across Roma North and Project Atlas that will deliver natural gas to the 16 TJ/day (~6 PJ / 1 mmboe p.a.) processing facility at Roma North and the 40 TJ/day (~15 PJ / 2.5 mmboe p.a.) processing facility at Project Atlas. Drilling began at Roma North and will continue to the end of Q1 FY20 when the rig will start drilling at Project Atlas.
NW of Shetlands insight with new generation of blended seismic
Step-change in source deblending enables bespoke, high-density acquisition designs to address difficult geological scenarios, CGG revealed in a recent release, highlighting advancements in seismic developments and a new world opening up in related spin-offs. Among many recent seismic technology advances, there has been a step-change in source deblending. This has enabled the design of surveys, which use multiple sets of simultaneous sources to provide bespoke imaging solutions for a range of challenging environments. Typically, this includes a dramatic increase in source density and the collection of additional offset-azimuth coverage without losing fold and near offset coverage.
Unemployment down but self-employed geoscientists continue to struggle
Unemployment amongst Australian geoscientists continued to fall during the first quarter of 2019. At 31 March 2019, the latest Australian Institute of Geoscientist’s (AIG) Employment Survey revealed an average unemployment rate of 7.5%, down from 9.1% recorded three months earlier at the end of December 2018. The underemployment rate amongst self-employed geoscientists, however, increased 2% to 20.5%, continuing an upturn in the self-employed’s unemployment rate evident in the December 2018 survey when a rate of 18.5% was recorded. The fall in geoscientist unemployment continues a gradual, downward trend that became evident in March 2016.
Searcher announced expansion of Argentina Data Library
Searcher has announced the expansion of the Argentina Super-Tie 2D Reprocessing Project. Following the success of phase 1 which specifically targeted the recent offshore bid round, the project has now been extended to include all available offshore 2D seismic data in the Malvinas and Austral Basins, Searcher said. The reprocessing effort will utilize a modern broadband and AVO compliant workflow to both improve imaging quality and provide regionally consistent data coverage.
Wood to lead subsea integration and flow assurance for landmark subsea development in Australia
Wood has secured a new contract with Chevron Australia to provide subsea integration and flow assurance front-end engineering design (FEED) services for the Jansz-lo compression project offshore Western Australia. Effective immediately, the one-year contract will be delivered locally by Wood’s team based in Perth, harnessing local expertise and industry capability. The Jansz-lo compression project will maintain gas supply to the existing Gorgon LNG facility. Wood will lead as system integrator of the technology, providing independent flow assurance, subsea design, and construction engineering support during the FEED. This new contract extends Wood’s support of Chevron-operated major capital projects in Australia.
CGG and Lundin Norway win NCS Exploration Innovation Prize 2019 for TopSeis
CGG and Lundin Norway AS have been awarded the NCS Exploration Innovation Prize 2019 for TopSeis™, a next-generation marine source-over-spread acquisition and imaging solution that delivers a step-change in imaging by providing massively increased near-offset coverage from a split spread with zero offsets. The Exploration Innovation Prize is “awarded to a license group, company, team or person who, during the last couple of years, has given a courageous and innovative technological contribution in exploration for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf.