Norway: Sesmic Acquisition in Eastern Barents Sea Starts on July 7

It has now been determined that there will be seismic acquisition in the eastern part of the Barents Sea from 7 July. The necessary formalities surrounding the Treaty on Maritime Delimitation and Cooperation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean between Norway and Russia are now in place. The activity can start 30 days following this.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate will be responsible for the seismic acquisition on behalf of Norwegian authorities, and the PGS vessel Harrier Explorer will carry out the acquisition.

Harrier Explorer is now on its way to Jan Mayen to start seismic acquisition there. The vessel will acquire seismic in this area, starting 10 June and lasting three to four weeks, before setting course for the eastern part of the Barents Sea. The voyage from Jan Mayen to the eastern part of the Barents Sea will likely take four to five days. An agreement has been entered into with PGS regarding hiring the vessel for three months with an option of an extension for approx. one month. This entails that the acquisition activity in the Barents Sea East will take place for two to three months.

The data acquisition will take place with the aid of PGS’ Geostreamer technology. This is a new technology for 2D seismic acquisition, characterised in part by the fact that the streamer, which in this case is eight kilometres long, is towed somewhat deeper in the water than is the case in conventional seismic acquisition. This means that the streamer can withstand higher waves, thus making the acquisition activity less dependent on weather and consequently more efficient.

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Source:NPD , June 10, 2011;