Company Updates

Shearwater kicks 2020 off with sevenfold increase in vessel backlog

10/01/2020 Posted by Dale

Shearwater has announced announce a more than sevenfold increase in 2020 backlog to 65 vessel-months at the start of 2020, up from nine vessel-months at the same time a year ago.

This backlog includes 24 months of the minimum commitment in the recently signed capacity agreement with CGG for two vessel-years annually over a five-year period. The backlog numbers exclude WesternGeco minimum commitment.

Shearwater said the backlog expansion reflects growing demand for marine seismic, particularly 4D, and successful execution of the company’s market consolidation strategy.

CGG exits from Seabed Data Acquisition Business

08/01/2020 Posted by Dale

CGG has completed its exit from the seabed data acquisition business and terminated the Seabed Geosolutions’ joint venture agreement.

The Paris-headquartered geophysical services company said that in line with its strategy to exit the data acquisition business, which was effective from December 31, 2019, the company had agreed to transfer its 40% shareholding in Seabed Geosolutions to Fugro before the end of the first quarter of 2020.

In addition, it was agreed to conclude remaining matters related to Seabed Geosolutions’ financing and non-competition provisions by paying $35 million to Fugro.

CGG said that notwithstanding this payment, it...

Fugro performs first deepwater AUV and geotechnical site survey for Brunei Shell Petroleum

08/01/2020 Posted by Dale

Fugro has successfully completed the first deepwater autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) site survey for Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP).

Ceri Powell, BSP’s Managing Director, delivered a congratulatory note acknowledging the quality of Fugro’s work and HSSE leadership shown throughout the campaign. BSP’s Project Lead Bilman Pardomuan Hutabarat commented: “This campaign was the first deepwater survey project for Shell in Brunei and its success will lead to many more deepwater programmes.”

The survey was performed in August in water depths of 600 m using the Fugro Equator, a dedicated geophysical survey vessel, and the Fugro ES-V...

Shell makes ‘significant’ gas discovery offshore Australia

31/12/2019 Posted by Dale

Shell has stepped on the gas, announcing a “significant gas and condensate discovery” at the Bratwurst-1 well in the Browse Basin off the North West Coast of Western Australia.

Shell said that the drilling of the Bratwurst-1 exploration well, within title AC/P64, was safely and successfully concluded on December 4 after a 78-day campaign.

This campaign was completed in just over 18 months from bidding and 12 months from award of the AC/P64 title, Shell said in a statement.

This discovery is located 160km north east of the Shell operated Prelude FLNG facility and presents an opportunity for a future tie-back to Prelude.

CGG’s completes Jumpstart for the North West Shelf and Banda Arc

17/12/2019 Posted by Dale

CGG has completed JumpStart™ multi-client geoscience packages for the North West Shelf (NWS) of Australia and the Banda Arc in the Asia-Pacific region. Both packages are now available and enhance understanding of the prospectivity of these two high-potential regions, allowing the assessment of exciting new plays, the Paris headquartered company said.

JumpStart packages mobilize the full suite of CGG’s geoscience capabilities to accelerate and support exploration efforts. They integrate all available data in a specific geographical area and frame it within a geological context.

Senex and Orora agree long-term gas sales agreement

17/12/2019 Posted by Dale

Senex Energy has announced an expansion of its natural gas sales agreement with Orora Limited, agreeing to supply 13.2 petajoules of natural gas from Project Atlas.

On 1 May 2019, Senex announced a two-year gas sales agreement with Orora for supply of 3.3 PJ of natural gas from 1 January 2020.

Senex and Orora have now agreed an expanded gas sale agreement, with Senex to supply a further 9.9 PJ of natural gas from Project Atlas over six years from 2022 to 2027, bringing the total contracted volume under this gas sales agreement to 13.2 PJ.

Gas will be supplied at the Wallumbilla Gas Hub in Queensland at market price escalated annually by CPI.

Polarcus starts seismic survey in the Petrel field

10/12/2019 Posted by Dale

The first significant investment in the Petrel field in five years has begun in the Bonaparte Basin with Polarcus commencing a 3D seismic survey in the area on behalf of Neptune Energy.

Neptune said the survey would expand the area of seismic data the company holds and significantly increase the quality and breadth of data, for the company and its partners in the Petrel JV to plan a path forward.

Neptune Energy Australia Managing Director, Janet Hann, said: “The Bonaparte Basin presents exciting growth opportunities for Neptune, and Petrel may play a significant role in our future aspirations for the area.

Empire capital raising strikes a chord for Betaloo Basin exploration

03/12/2019 Posted by Dale

Empire Energy has raised $12 million to advance exploration programmes in the company’s 100% owned EP187 tenement in the Betaloo Basin, Northern Territory.

Funds derived from the placement to institutional and sophisticated investors are set to unlock the Northern Territory’s first exploration targeting the Velkerri Shale.

At present 2D seismic data acquired in EP187 is being processed and interpreted to determine final locations for exploration drilling, which is scheduled to commence in the dry season next year, subject to regulatory approvals.

Empire Managing Director Alex Underwood said the successful capital had empowered Empire to build the value of its shale properties in the Beetaloo and McArthur Basins through disciplined exploration investment.

Mosman Oil and Gas granted one-year permit extension

26/11/2019 Posted by Dale

Mosman Oil and Gas has welcomed a one-year permit extension for a prospect in the Amadeus Basin in the Northern Territory whereby the Sydney-based company has been granted a 12-month suspension of year three work-program commitments.

The company has also been granted a corresponding extension of the permit term.

“This is exactly the decision Mosman had sought and now the company can move forward with the 2D seismic acquisition, seismic processing and interpretation and exploration well planning,” Mosman said.

The company said the work program was already progressing as it had contracted a seismic acquisition contractor and had completed field trips during 2019 to assess the terrain and logistical requirements for the seismic survey.

CGG Announces Largest OBN Multi-Client Survey in UK CNS

26/11/2019 Posted by Dale

CGG has announced a program to deliver the largest OBN multi-client survey ever conducted in the UK Central North Sea (CNS).

Planned to start in early 2020, the survey has already received significant industry interest and is being prefunded in part by BP. First results are targeted for Q1 2021.

CGG said that in the CNS, where complex salt diapirism has created significant challenges to imaging deeper reservoir targets, this new survey, with its long-offset, full-azimuth coverage and good low-frequency signal in a shallow water environment, together with CGG’s advanced imaging technology, will provide a step-change in seismic image and reservoir characterization quality.