CGG’s Gabonese seismic data ‘way beyond expectations’

French oilfield services provider CGG, responsible for a seismic survey supporting the Gabonese 11th deepwater licensing round, said its preliminary seismic data has received praise from potential clients.

CGG has worked with the Direction Generale des Hydrocarbures of Gabon (DGH) to acquire and process over 25,000 km2 of new 3D BroadSeis™ multi-client seismic data over available and licensed blocks in the South Basin to enable evaluation of this prospective area.

According to the company, the objective of the survey is to image potential prospective structures at base salt level without compromising the shallower post-salt image quality.

The French seismic specialist says that the data do not disappoint.

Even a preliminary ultra-fast-track dataset produced onboard was described as “way beyond expectations” by a major oil company interpreter, CGG claims.

The Paris-based company said that the Gabonese licensing round has generated considerable interest from both International Oil Companies (IOC’s) and newcomers alike, encouraged by the success of exploration in the conjugate margin offshore Brazil, as well as recent pre-salt discoveries such as Ruche, Tortue, Diaman and Leopard in nearby Gabonese waters.

The company said that a fast-track pre-stack time-migrated dataset for this survey is available now, along with sample pre-stack depth reverse time-migrated (RTM) data in one area. CGG said that the final RTM for the whole of the survey area will be available this summer.

The Gabonese licensing round was formally opened on October 27, 2015. The deadline for bid submissions ended on May 31, 2016.