Gene Kliewer • Houston
Total has agreed with Yam’s Petroleum to acquire 60% interest in the Cl-100 license 100 km (62 mi) southeast of Abidjan,Côte d’Ivoire, in water depths of 1,500 m to 3,100 m (4,921 ft to 10,171 ft).
Total says Yam’s Petroleum has done initial 3D seismic work and a new 1,000 sq km (386 sq mi) 3D program is planned to cover the remaining area of the license. Drilling is to start in 2012.
“This is a promising area whose geological objectives are similar to that of major discoveries that have been made in the neighboring blocks in Ghana,” says Marc Blaisot, senior VP, Geosciences, Total Exploration & Production.
Total becomes operator of the 2,000 sq km (722 sq mi) license with Yam’s Petroleum retaining 25% and Côte d’Ivoire’s national oil company, Petroci, holds 15%.
Accra survey area offshore Ghana.
CGGVeritas says is has completed successfully a broadband marine project offshoreGabon for Total. The BroadSeis project achieved a bandwidth of 2.5 to 150 Hz.
The process “delivers the highest bandwidth images available today and the additional low-frequency signal below 5 Hz provides greater penetration and hence better signal-to-noise ratio for deep targets,” said Benoît Ribadeau-Dumas, executive VP, Marine, CGGVeritas. “The very high-resolution images achieved by BroadSeis have been able to reveal important geologic features such as thin beds, stratigraphic traps and potential shallow hazards that were not visible in conventional data.”
Tap Oil Ltd. now plans acquisition of a 3D seismic survey starting in December over its offshoreGhana acreage following the promise of added potential in deeper waters highlighted in an earlier 2D study.
Tap says interpretation of the 2D data indicated potentially significant structural trends and several stratigraphic features similar to other producing areas along the West African transform margin. Rather the more 2D acquisition as required in the agreement, the decision was made to go directly to 3D to move the area into a “drill-ready” status. Then, plans are to start drilling in late 2011 or early 2012.
At the end of the survey, which will cover an approximately 1,230 sq km (475 sq mi), approximately 80% of the permit will be covered by new or reprocessed 3D seismic data, according to Tap.
The offshore contract area, southeast of Ghana’s capital Accra, covers an area of 2,000 sq km (772 sq mi) in water depths ranging from less than 50 m (164 ft) to greater than 2,500 m (8,202 ft).
The Petroleum Agreement between Tap Oil (Ghana) Ltd. with 36% and its Joint Venture partners, the Republic of Ghana and the Ghana National Petroleum Co. with 10%, AFEX Oil (Ghana) Ltd. at 27%, and Challenger Minerals (Ghana) Ltd. with 27%.
Technology upgrades
Austin GeoModeling has released Recon 4.0, its Windows Desktop. The Automated 3D geological interpretation software now handles larger data sets, has a new user interface, and extends OS support. AGM says the release reaches into the gap between seismic and 3D modeling software.
RECON 4.0 supports both Windows and Linux operating systems. Increased performance gives faster computational and visualization speed to the Cascade Technology embedded in RECON to deliver instant re-calculation and visualization of structure and attributes when new data is added or edited.
Kongsberg Seatex, Kongsberg Maritime’s specialist in position reference systems and attitude determination, is deploying full-scale over PGS vessels the eBird lateral steering equipment for streamer control.
PGS will use eBird technology on a Ramform vessel equipped with its latest 3D GeoStreamer technology. eBird is a novel bird solution for lateral, vertical, and roll streamer control in marine seismic acquisition.
SEG fund-raiser by ION supports Geoscientists without Borders
The SEG Foundation Program “Geoscientists without Borders” was one winner in an event sponsored by ION at the SEG annual meeting. Kate Readio was the other winner.
ION raised almost $2,000 for the SEG program that aims to connect communities around the world which could benefit from the help of applied geophysics projects. The program has been involved in projects ranging from addressing a rural India water supply shortage to helping Jamaica prepare for an earthquake.
ION’s event offered as a prize for a tax-exempt donation a vintage 1978 Raleigh bicycle refurbished by Brad Coram, ION Sensor sales manager in the Netherlands. Coram “recycles” old frames from donor bicycles into fixed-gear show bikes. Coram has done this for other such charitable projects. He strips the bike of any parts and paint, then makes sure the frame is correct and adds paint and running gear. The result is a one-of-a-kind, high-end, fixed-gear show bike.
Readio, who won the bike, is the general manger for Nature’s Own in Boulder, Colorado. As an enthusiastic runner, cyclist, and cross-country skier, Readio makes a perfect winner.
Funded by the SEG Foundation and supported by donations, the mission of Geoscientists without Borders is “to connect universities and industries with communities in need through projects using applied geophysics to benefit people and the environment around the world.”
GWB has current projects under way in Australia, Northern Thailand, India, Honduras, Indonesia, Jamaica, Romania, and South Africa.
For more on the Society of Exploration Geophysicists Annual Meeting, please see page 54.
Offshore Articles Archives
View Oil and Gas Articles on PennEnergy.com
