Ted Moon • Houston
emgs awarded offshore India seabed logging contract
Norway’s Electromagnetic Geoservices AS (emgs) has been awarded a contract with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd. (ONGC) for the provision of marine electromagnetic surveys to locate hydrocarbon reservoirs before drilling.
emgs says it won the work because of its proprietary seabed logging services. The technique uses long source-receiver offsets to identify resistive subsurface features, including commercial hydrocarbon reservoirs. The method is used as a complement to seismic surveying, which identifies potential reservoir structures but not their content.
Seabed logging (SBL) helps to reduce the costs of finding commercial reservoirs by identifying hydrocarbons without drilling. Data, presented as maps and 2D cross-sectional images of subsurface resistivity anomalies, are routinely helping exploration professionals locate commercial reservoirs and rank prospects for drilling, minimizing the risk of drilling dry holes.
The first discovery based entirely on emgs’ SBL was made in 2001. Since then, emgs has completed over 120 surveys for more than 25 oil companies, including Apache, BP, Eni, Norsk Hydro, Petrobras, Shell, and Statoil. According to the company, in every area where a well has been drilled, data acquiredfrom wellbore surveys has corroborated emgs’survey predictions.
Andy Lozano, president of emgs Asia Pacific, noted that ONGC is the first operator to use SBL offshore India, and is convinced of the value that the technique will bring to ONGC.
“Seabed logging reduces offshore exploration risks by identifying resistive bodies such as hydrocarbon reservoirs in the subsurface and providing valuable data that complements conventional seismic survey,” he says. “We are confident that our surveys will help ONGC to fulfill its goal of increasing reserves and will contribute to meeting the nation’s energy needs in this exciting period of growth.”
Representative figure of high- and low-resistivity areas afforded from emgs technology on a commercial reservoir. The high-res areas (top, center) identify zones of potential hydrocarbon prospects, while the low-res regions lack prospective hydrocarbons.
emgs will employ its newly commissionedsurvey vessel MV Sasha for the survey work. The vessel is the third in emgs’ fleet, and was mobilized to Indian waters after being fitted out. An emgs project office in Mumbai will coordinate operations with support from geologists and geophysicists at the company’s regional office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and its head office in Trondheim, Norway.
Lozano is also optimistic about the larger market for SBL in India. “Exploration activity offshore India is intensifying and emgs is keen to bring seabed logging to the subcontinent. With theMV Sasha in Indian waters, we are in a good position logistically. We have already opened discussions with other operating companies in India about providing seabed logging services and confidently predict full vessel utilization in the area for the foreseeable future.”
Terje Eidesmo, president and CEO of emgs, believes SBL has an important role to play in realizing ONGC’s strategic vision, which includes doubling its reserves by 2020. “ONGC is a world-class oil and gas company that recognizes the competitive advantages that new exploration technologies can bring. With two-thirds of the new reserves expected from deepwater discoveries, the need for the right technologies to minimize exploration risks is clear, and we are pleased that ONGC has adopted seabed logging as part of its exploration strategy. Our method has been validated by drilling in many oil provinces around the world, and commercial hydrocarbon reservoirs have been reliably identified before drilling.”
Work commenced in January with a survey on a recently discovered and relatively small reservoir. ONGC then plans to embark on an extensive program of surveys to assess several prospects off India’s east coast. This program will take an estimated six months to complete.
Genesis Petroleum reaches seismic agreement
Genesis Petroleum Corp. Plc entered into an agreement with one of the world’s leading offshore seismic data providers to access offshore 3D seismic data from a data library of approximately 150,000 sq km covering proven hydrocarbon basins offshore Norway, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, and the UK. This takes Genesis’ total coverage to 200,000 sq km in the region. The company already has an arrangement with another seismic data provider that gives it access to data covering an area of 50,000 sq km.
Genesis, an exploration company, has taken a novel approach to accessing seismic data. Genesis pays nothing for the data initially. It can analyze the data to assess areas of potential at no cost. Only when it signs a license to explore and develop a piece of acreage does it pay for the data, which is usually a percentage of the license fee.
When drilling does take place, less money will be expended than if Genesis had been obliged to commission its own seismic survey. Established oil majors such as ConocoPhillips and Lundin of Sweden have entered into partnership with Genesis on two prospects in the North Sea as a result of analysis that Genesis has carried out using this approach.
Genesis believes that access to the data on the terms agreed and reviewed by its technical staff will give it a significant exploration advantage in the North Sea. The company says that this strategy will enable it to be technically more objective and focused in its selection of, and application for, offshore acreage in the region. The company also believes the agreement will allow it to have better informed discussions with other oil companies about potential joint ventures and farm-in arrangements, without the usual expense of acquiring seismic data.
“This agreement complements our existing agreement with another seismic data provider,” says Genesis CEO Gerry Harrison. “The data provides the company with a fantastic regional perspective which allows us to be very selective about taking acreage positions and developing farm-in opportunities. We intend to apply for offshore acreage only where we already have an informed view of its prospectivity based on the latest 3D technology. This reduces the exploration risk.”
In addition, the agreement gives Genesis the dual advantage of both reduced cost, as the company only incurs significant fees when it wins acreage, Harrison says, as well as a reduced time to drilling, since a significant amount of the technical work will have already been done.
“This latest agreement allows us further opportunity to selectively win good acreage and form strong partnerships.”•
