Shearwater Geoservices and Viridien are seeing continued strong demand for ocean-bottom node (OBN) surveys, and TGS recently reported a similar trend in its latest quarterly report.
Shearwater’s SW Tasman has completed its first OBN survey as a combined node deployment and source vessel for a program offshore Cote d’Ivoire, the company said in a results review. This was also an industry first, the company claimed, delivering a reduced survey cost and environmental footprint, while marking the first use of the Pearl node in West Africa.
SW Tasman has since moved south to Angola to acquire two OBN surveys for TotalEnergies. Upon completion, the vessel/Pearl spread will have been in continual service for about 18 months, generating $200 million of revenue.
Early this year, the SW Empress vessel began a second season of acquisition for the frontier Pelotas basin multi-client 3D seismic survey offshore southern Brazil.
However, Shearwater has cold-stacked its high-end streamer vessel Amazon Conqueror to reduce costs during the present winter season.
In general, acquisition activity has picked up this year, the company said, with various contracts delayed in 2024 now moving ahead. However, the market outlook remains uncertain with operators still cautious and exerting capital discipline.
Competitor Viridien (formerly known as CGG) sees offshore exploration gaining momentum in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM), Brazil, Norway and frontiers areas such as the Equatorial Margin and the East Mediterranean Sea. It also anticipates growth in the Middle East, with investments in advanced imaging and digital solutions.
In its results statement, Viridien pinpointed strong demand for OBN and full waveform inversion technologies to mitigate risks and optimize field developments.
The company’s current workload includes the extensive Laconia OBN project in the US GoM, the North Viking Graben streamer survey in Norway, and various reprocessing projects.
It also sees market growth potential in carbon capture and sequestration, with most oil and gas operators investing in projects to reduce their carbon emissions. At the 2024 Offshore Technology Conference, Viridien and Baker Hughes signed an agreement to jointly offer integrated carbon capture and sequestration solutions to clients.
