Spectrum in 2D seismic survey offshore Mozambique

Multi-Client seismic data specialist Spectrum has been awarded the Tender Area 2 Broadband 2D multi-client seismic survey covering the southern Rovuma and north-eastern Zambezi Basins, offshore Mozambique.

Spectrum was awarded the survey based on an invitation to submit proposals for Tender Areas 1 through 7 for new multi-client data acquisition projects offshore Mozambique issued by the Government of the Republic of Mozambique, through the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Instituto Nacional de Petróleo. The invitation for tender proposals closed on July 11.

Spectrum said on Monday that the survey of the area will have a variable grid with lines spaced from 10 km to 20 km, totaling more than 16,000 km.

The company said that the new seismic data will image the subsurface potential in open areas of the southern Rovuma Basin and the western flanks of the Kerimbas Graben, west of the Davie Fracture Zone, revealing the prospectivity in this region for the first time.

Potential targets along the Mozambique margin have already been identified in both structural and stratigraphic settings, following recent studies in the area. These include Cretaceous and Tertiary turbidites and buried canyon plays.

The survey will also aim to image the syn-rift structures and Late Cretaceous pro-delta stacked turbidite sequences in the northeast Zambezi Depression. The Zambezi Delta exhibits complex structuration following extensive recent compressional tectonics. Several potential sources, reservoir, and seal intervals have already been identified in this area. Play types include onlaps and drapes over basement highs, stratigraphic and structural traps of deep-water slope channel and basin floor fan complexes, low stand plays (both wedge and pro-delta fan), syn-rift graben hanging wall and footwall plays, and strike-slip structural plays.

Spectrum added that the new 2D data will play a key role in understanding the hydrocarbon potential of the area and accelerate hydrocarbon exploration activity in what is believed to be an oil-dominated region offshore Mozambique.