CGGVeritas Starts Acquisition of First FAZ Survey in US GOM

CGGVeritas announced that it has started acquiring its first StagSeisTM dual-vessel, long-offset multi-client full-azimuth (FAZ) survey in the Keathley Canyon area of the US Gulf of Mexico (GOM).

This 221-block (5150 sq km) full-fold 3D seismic data survey, known as IBALT, will take approximately 6-7 months to acquire and is the first phase in a multi-client program that CGGVeritas will conduct in the Gulf of Mexico over the next few years. A Fast Track data volume is expected to be available by mid-2013 and TTI RTM data will be the primary deliverable in the second half of 2013.

The survey will benefit from the improved illumination and penetration capabilities of StagSeis, a CGGVeritas new-generation acquisition and imaging solution designed to deliver the very best seismic images of complex structures such as the subsalt structures of the Gulf of Mexico. The combination of its patented acquisition design, based on a staggered vessel configuration, very long offsets (up to 20 km) and full-azimuth coverage (up to 10 km), with BroadSeisTM, the CGGVeritas broadband marine solution, will achieve better deep imaging of pre-salt plays than ever before.

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGGVeritas, said: “CGGVeritas has always been at the forefront of developing and applying the most advanced seismic technologies in the Gulf of Mexico where we have a very strong multi-client data library. After being the first to use wide-azimuth technology in the Gulf of Mexico five years ago, we are proud to go one step further with the introduction of StagSeis. Its power to illuminate under the salt heralds a new era for subsalt exploration in the most challenging areas and is especially suited to large-scale multi-client surveys such as IBALT.”

CGGVeritas is a leading international pure-play geophysical company delivering a wide range of technologies, services and equipment through Sercel, to its broad base of customers mainly throughout the global oil and gas industry.

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Subsea World News Staff , July 17, 2012;  Image: CGGVeritas