First Break December 2019

VO L U M E 3 7 I I S S U E 12 I D E C E M B E R 2 019

SPECIAL TOPIC

Data Processing TECHNICAL ARTICLE Time conversion of depth migrated data INDUSTRY NEWS Geoscience companies report healthy net profits CROSSTALK Predictions going into 2020

Towed-streamer data

Fast Trax OBN data

PREMIER OBN DATA IN MISSISSIPPI CANYON Enriched imaging redefines subsalt Early results from CGG’s Mississippi Canyon ocean bottom node (OBN) survey provide a sneak peek at the imaging uplift achieved with OBN data.

This new dense node survey delivers well-sampled, long-offset, full-azimuth data for CGG’s cutting-edge imaging workflows, which include advanced 3D deghosting and time-lag FWI velocity modeling.

Final products from the Mississippi Canyon OBN survey will provide improved highquality images of complex structures for field development.

The right data, in the right place, at the right time datalibrary.nala@cgg.com

cgg.com/multi-client

FIRST BREAK® An EAGE Publication

CHAIRMAN EDITORIAL BOARD Peter Rowbotham (Peter.Rowbotham@apachecorp.com) EDITOR Damian Arnold (editorfb@eage.org) MEMBERS, EDITORIAL BOARD • Paul Binns, consultant (pebinns@btinternet.com) • Patrick Corbett, Heriot-Watt University (patrick_corbett@pet.hw.ac.uk) • Tom Davis, Colorado School of Mines (tdavis@mines.edu) • Anthony Day, PGS (anthony.day@pgs.com) • Peter Dromgoole, Equinor UK (pdrum@equinor.com) • Rutger Gras, Oranje-Nassau Energy (gras@onebv.com) • Hamidreza Hamdi, University of Calgary (hhamdi@ucalgary.ca) • Ed Kragh, Schlumberger Cambridge Research (edkragh@slb.com) • John Reynolds, Reynolds International (jmr@reynolds-international.co.uk) • James Rickett, Schlumberger (jrickett@slb.com) • Dave Stewart, Dave Stewart Geoconsulting Ltd (djstewart.dave@gmail.com) • Femke Vossepoel, Delft University of Technology (f.c.vossepoel@tudelft.nl) MEDIA PRODUCTION MANAGER Thomas Beentje (tbe@eage.org) ACCOUNT MANAGER ADVERTISING Keziah Starrenburg (ksg@eage.org) PRODUCTION Saskia Nota (layout@eage.org) Ivana Geurts (layout@eage.org) EAGE EUROPE OFFICE PO Box 59 3990 DB Houten The Netherlands • +31 88 995 5055 • eage@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE RUSSIA & CIS OFFICE EAGE Russia & CIS Office EAGE Geomodel LLC 19 Leninsky Prospekt 119071, Moscow, Russia • +7 495 640 2008 • moscow@eage.org • www.eage.ru EAGE MIDDLE EAST OFFICE EAGE Middle East FZ-LLC Dubai Knowledge Village Block 13 Office F-25 PO Box 501711 Dubai, United Arab Emirates • +971 4 369 3897 • middle_east@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE ASIA PACIFIC OFFICE UOA Centre Office Suite 19-15-3A No. 19, Jalan Pinang 50450 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia • +60 3 272 201 40 • asiapacific@eage.org • www.eage.org

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Post-migration inverse Q filtering to enhance amplitude supported prospectivity evaluation

Editorial Contents 3

EAGE News

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Crosstalk

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Industry News

Technical Article

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Tutorial — time conversion of depth migrated data:part II, TTI preSDM Ian F. Jones

Special Topic: Data Processing

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Optimizing performance of data processing Samuel Brown and Tony Martin

51 Processing and imaging of towed-streamer electromagnetic data with synthetic aperture method

Michael S. Zhdanov and Xiaolei Tu 55 Post-migration inverse Q filtering to enhance amplitude supported prospectivity evaluation Tim Seher, Simon Baldock, Karyna Rodriguez, Neil Hodgson, Anongporn Intawong, Hassan Masoomzadeh, Sarah Spoors, Elena Kokoshina and Neil Ratnett 61 An automated quantitative multi-stage approach to invert velocity models for microseismic event locations Fernando Castellanos, Mike Preiksaitis, Ryan Nader, Vlad Shumila, Steve Falls, Dan Hook and Doug Angus 69 Elastic imaging and its benefits — Permian Basin example David Langton, Alex Biholar, Kenton Shaw, Steve Adams, Mike Bradshaw, Jeff Codd, Xiaoling Tan, Allon Bartana and David Kessler 78

Calendar of Events

EAGE LATIN AMERICA OFFICE Carrera 14 No 97-63 Piso 5 Bogotá, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above) FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online)

cover: Rapid developments in computing power help geoscientists get better quality seismic data. Our Special Topic on Data Processing starts on p. 46

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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers

Board 2019-2020

Michael Pöppelreiter President

Dirk Orlowsky Vi c e-President Elect

Everhard Muijzert Secretary-Treasurer

Near Surface Geoscience Division George Apostolopoulos Chair Alireza Malehmir Vice-Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS/North America Riyadh Al-Saad Oil & Gas Liaison Esther Bloem Technical Programme Officer Hongzhu Cai Liaison China Albert Casas Membership Officer Eric Cauquil Liaison Shallow Marine Geophysics Ranajit Ghose Editor in Chief Near Surface Geophysics Hamdan Ali Hamdan Liaison Middle East Andreas Kathage Liaison Officer First Break Musa Manzi Liaison Africa Myrto Papadopoulou Young Professional Liaison Koya Suto Liaison Asia Pacific Catherine Truffert Industry Liaison

Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Caroline Le Turdu Membership and Cooperation Officer

Ingrid Magnus Publications Officer

Colin MacBeth Education Officer

Michael Peter Suess Chair; TPC Lucy Slater Vice-Chair Caroline Jane Lowrey Immediate Past Chair; TPC Erica Angerer Member Wiebke Athmer Member Xavier Garcia NSGD Liaison Juliane Heiland TPC Tijmen-Jan Moser Editor-in-chief Geophysical Prospecting Ann Muggeridge IOR Committee Liasion Francesco Perrone YP Liaison Philip Ringrose Editor-in-chief Petroleum Geoscience Conor Ryan REvC Liaison Martin Widmaier TPC Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer Michael Zhdanov NSGD Liaison

SUBSCRIPTIONS First Break is published monthly. It is free to EAGE members. The membership fee of EAGE is € 50.00 a year (including First Break, EarthDoc (EAGE’s geoscience database), Learning Geoscience (EAGE’s Education website) and online access to a scientific journal.

Companies can subscribe to First Break via an institutional subscription.

Every subscription includes a monthly hard copy and online access to the full First Break archive for the requested number of online users.

Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer

George Apostolopoulos Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division

Michael Peter Suess Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Orders for current subscriptions and back issues should be sent to EAGE Publications BV, Journal Subscriptions, PO Box 59, 3990 DB, Houten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 (0)88 9955055, E-mail: subscriptions@eage.org, www.firstbreak.org.

First Break is published by EAGE Publications BV, The Netherlands.

However, responsibility for the opinions given and the statements made rests with the authors.

COPYRIGHT & PHOTOCOPYING © 2019 EAGE All rights reserved. First Break or any part thereof may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying and recording, ­without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

PAPER The Publisher’s policy is to use acid-free permanent paper (TCF), to the draft standard ISO/DIS/9706, made from sustainable ­forests using chlorine-free pulp (Nordic-Swan standard).

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HIGHLIGHTS

EAGE MEMBERS

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How the Student Fund really makes a difference

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Prague is command central for new local chapter

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Amsterdam here we come!

How EAGE Funds can make your day!

Here’s a question. Have you ever taken part in one of the EAGE Education Tours? Or have you ever taken advantage of our free E-Lectures or members-only webinars? Maybe you have consulted our How-To video series to prepare your next abstract, talk or publication.

If you answered yes to any of these scenarios, then you have benefited from our Education Fund, one of EAGE’s funding programmes. The Education Fund supports several education activities that offer members and the wider geoscience and engineering community the opportunity to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and skills available in the extended EAGE network.

Many of our activities are supported by one of funds that the Association has created to pursue EAGE’s strategic objectives: the aforementioned Education Fund, the Support Fund, Cooperation Fund and the Student Fund. We are talking €5 million which has been allocated to membership services since 2016, so it’s worth knowing all about these funds and how they might benefit you as a member.

Through its Cooperation Fund, EAGE supports collaborations with more than 80 Associated and sister societies, to better serve our communities through dedicated events, activities and publications. Working with partners increases the level of service we are able to offer globally, including FIRST

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allowing us to offer events that can reach our truly international community.

Nawal de Freslon, geophysicist at Beicip-Franlab and one of the founders of Local Chapter Paris, shares her professional story and how EAGE funds have played a part: ‘Being part of the EAGE community has been a great journey​for me​. I started as a student m ​ ember w ​ ith the IFP School Student Chapter​ . After that​ , I participated in the ​ e-mentoring program​me organized by the WGE group, which really​​ triggered my involvement in the Association. Now I am actively​ volunteering in the Local Chapter Paris.​ I know that this experience was made possible thanks in part to various EAGE funds​. ​It has allowed me t​o ​grow both as I

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EAGE NEWS

a professional and as a person. I want to continue connecting with this broad community, and t​o ​participate on the ongoing evolution of the EAGE.’ Another of our most important financial assistance programmes is the EAGE Support Fund. It powers an array of our most impactful activities including the EAGE Local Chapters globally and our special interest communities.

Paul Mitchell, geophysics discipline lead at TAQA and president of Local Chapter Aberdeen, can testify to the value of the EAGE funds: ‘Since the formation of our Local Chapter in Aberdeen two years ago, the group has gone from strength to strength. This is due to a great team of volunteers and the support from EAGE funds. We have been able to consolidate an active local network, foster a strong relationship with academia and provide students access to industry experts. Today the Local Chapter serves as an important focal point for the geoscience and engineering community in Aberdeen and provides a local presence for the EAGE.’

The Association also allocates around €100,000 a year to travel grants for individual geoscientists who cannot obtain financial support from other sources to participate actively as speakers in selected EAGE events worldwide. Authors of the best papers at selected regional events can also receive travel grants to come to present their winning paper at the EAGE Annual Conference and Exhibition or the Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition.

Long-term members facing hardship due to unemployment can benefit from the EAGE Economic Hardship Programme which consists of three elements: a membership fee waiver, an EAGE Annual registration fee waiver and special discounts on public EAGE short courses.

In addition to the three main funds, the EAGE Student Fund plays a key role in facilitating activities and outreach to students. Active since 2009, it makes it possible for students to gain access to EAGE resources, obtain support for Student Chapter activities and enable

student to participate in various EAGE events.

Unlike the other Association programmes, the Student Fund is a standalone charitable body. It combines financial support from the Association, the EAGE member community and companies. Many will be familiar with the student activities at the EAGE Annual, but the Fund also supports a wide range of activities outside of the conference.

For example, it allows us to offer the first year of membership free to students, it finances Laurie Dake Challenge and the global Geo-Quiz programme. In total, the Fund allocates over €200,000 annually to help finance projects involving students. If you are a student, make sure to read up on the various types of support available to you to help you with your studies and transition to professional life on our dedicated Student Fund website at: https://eagestudentfund.org/.

With our funds EAGE is working to make sure that our global community gets the most out of their membership with the Association.

A Caribbean view from the air.

Workshop explored Caribbean hotspot A successful First EAGE Workshop on Advanced Seismic Solutions and New Exploration Concepts to Unlock the Potential of the Caribbean Shelf took place on 25-26 October in Bogotá, Colombia drawing an audience of key industry players and experts in the industry.

Chris Ward, senior Baker Hughes executive and former EAGE president, opened the workshop. He urged the

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audience to stay involved with relevant events that allow the exchange of ideas and address common challenges within the industry.

Ward set the tone for the conference in which Colombia’s industry regulator ANH (Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos) was represented and generated plenty of discussion. Colombian operator Ecopetrol and service companies such as Western Geco, CGG, Neoil

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Exploration, PGS, Fugro and NSC Subsea all welcomed the opportunity to share knowledge in a bid to accomplish successful exploration and production in the Caribbean, now a global hot spot for new discoveries.

EAGE would like to acknowledge the generous event sponsorship from Ellis, AGS and PGS as well as the contributions of our technical committee.

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Discover more at www.dug.com/ dug-mccloud/

EAGE NEWS

Solving the case of the missing UK CCS projects

Mercat Cross in Aberdeen at Night.

Whatever happened to Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) in the UK? That was the pertinent question which presenter Steve Furnival (Axis Well Technology) addressed at a packed joint EAGE Local Chapter Aberdeen and PESGB audience on 15 October, part of a continuing collaboration between the two societies.

CCS has been talked about in the UK for years; or should that be for at least a couple of decades? The first project

in which CO2 was injected into the subsurface purely to avoid emissions to the atmosphere was the Sleipner project in Norway. Closer to home, there’s been a lot of talking, plenty of academic study and there have even been three projects getting as far as front end engineering and design (FEED). But we’ve never seen a project reach a final investment decision (FID). Why not?

Not only did Furnival do the tour of shelved projects, but his cigarette packet

physics shone through as went through some of the technical issues surrounding sequestering CO2. In this whistle-stop tour, there was even the chance to think on CFDs and carbon pricing! Plenty of questions at the end, and one-to-one discussions around this engaging topic. Thanks to Axis Well Technology for sponsoring the event.

Later in the month, the Chapter took time to help new students at the University of Aberdeen continue the student chapter activities, another successful collaboration. Paul Mitchell, president of LC Aberdeen, gave an overview of the local chapter’s activities and Niki Obiwulu, a recent PhD graduate herself, spoke about the benefits of a student chapter.

Meantime Charlie Hawley, former student chapter vice president, described all the activities that were organized last year including lectures and field trips. Aberdeen LC looks forward to supporting the students on their EAGE journey again this year.

Saudi venue makes IPTC 2020 special A bit of history will be made when the 12th International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) is held on 13–15 January 2020 at the Dhahran EXPO in Saudi Arabia. It will mark the first time that an international multi-disciplinary, inter-society oil and gas conference and exhibition has taken place in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Aramco will be serving as the exclusive host of IPTC 2020 which is to focus on the theme ‘Vision to Prosperity: A New Energy Era Emerges’. The intention is to highlight the continuing effort by the oil and gas industry to make the new global energy vision a reality.

The conference agenda is packed with distinguished speakers at the

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various forums including the Opening Session, CEO Plenary Session, Executive Plenary Session, and Energy Think Tank Plenary Session.

Global industry professionals are set to focus on various industry topics and trends spanning 100 technical sessions. Over 8000 delegates are expected to gather at IPTC 2020 with the possibility to exchange ideas, share experiences and forge new relationships.

IPTC was founded in 2005 to create a flagship multi-disciplinary technical event in the Eastern Hemisphere, sponsored by AAPG, EAGE, SEG and SPE. The scope of the conference programme and associated industry activities address technology and rel-

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evant industry issues that challenge industry specialists and management around the world.

IPTC is focused on the dissemination of new and current technology, best practices and multi-disciplinary activities designed to emphasize the importance of the value chain and maximizing asset value. The knowledge, capabilities and strengths of the participating countries and the sponsoring societies global membership, over the spectrum of multi-disciplinary technologies, are central to the success of the conference and the corresponding exhibition.

For information on how to register for IPTC 2020, please visit go.iptcnet.org/regnow

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EAGE NEWS

How the Student Fund really makes a difference As part of the 10-year anniversary of the EAGE Student Fund, we asked Anna Donczew to describe how the Fund had impacted her student experience. Originally from Poland, Donczew has a BSc in geophysics from AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków and recently graduated from the joint international MSc in Sustainable and Innovative Natural Resource Management (SINReM) at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Anna Donczew presenting at IGSC2019.

I first came aware of the benefits of the EAGE Student Fund (ESF) when I was a project leader helping to organize the 8th International Geosciences Student Conference (IGSC 2019) that took place in Uppsala in June this year.

Since its very first edition, IGSC has always worked closely with EAGE, so it was great to continue the tradition and have ESF again support our event. Thanks to the Fund we could improve student participants’ experience during the meeting and make IGSC fun and memorable.

For me personally, taking part in the EAGE Geo-Quiz during the conference was the most fun and excitement! With a

friend of mine we signed up just to have a good time and challenge ourselves as emerging geoscientists. The battle during the last rounds was quite heated and tightly contested but we managed to stay cool and… won the quiz!

As a prize, we received the EAGE Travel Grant that allowed us to take part in the EAGE Near Surface Geoscience in The Hague in September. It was a great opportunity for us to participate in an EAGE conference, enabling us great access to industry professionals, technical sessions and joining networking activities.

I have now just graduated, so the whole experience is still fresh in my mind and I think I can reflect the student point of view. To my mind, investing in the education of future professionals is a key contribution to the geoscience and engineering community, as it is an investment in problem-solvers and action takers of the future. It is providing students with equal opportunity to attend scientific events, helping them experience science outside the classroom and giving them more exposure to industry and state-ofthe-art research that makes the financial contributions of the ESF so valuable. Students can broaden their horizons, have the possibility to meet industry leaders and

also generally better manage the transition to being a young professional at an early career stage.

That’s why I strongly encourage those who can to support ESF as a great way to encourage students around the globe. It motivates students from different coun-

tries to come together, inspire and learn from each other during the conferences and activities sponsored by EAGE. I will always be grateful to ESF not just as a result of my own experience but for the introduction it provides us as students into the professional geoscience and engineering world.

EAGE Education Calendar 2 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13, BY IAN JONES

DELFT, THE NETHERLANDS

2 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 5, BY JÖRG HERWANGER

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

2 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 6, BY OLAV INGE BARKVED

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

3 DEC

EAGE OTE TOUR 5, BY VALENTINA ZHEMCHUGOVA

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

4 DEC

EAGE OTE TOUR 4, BY ANATOLY CHEREPOVSKY

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

4 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 5, BY JÖRG HERWANGER

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

5 DEC

WEBINAR BY GILLIAN ROYLE AT 2:00 PM CET

ONLINE

9 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13, BY IAN JONES

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

11 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13, BY IAN JONES

TOKYO, JAPAN

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE VISIT WWW.EAGE.ORG AND WWW.LEARNINGGEOSCIENCE.ORG.

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EAGE NEWS

Legend of Baron Eötvös lives on 2019 has been a special year in the Hungarian earth sciences. It is 150 years since the country’s first scientific research institute, the Royal Hungarian Geological Institute was established.

One hundred years ago Baron Roland Eötvös, physicist and the father of practical geophysics, passed away. To acknowledge his exemplary work of life serving Hungarian science and education 2019 has been the Roland Eötvös Commemorative Year, in association with UNESCO. To honour this occasion, our Associated Societies, the Association of Hungarian Geophysicists (MGE) and the Hungarian Geological Society (MFT), organized a conference on 3-5 October in Balatonfüred, Hungary, supported by the EAGE. The invited speakers presented the past 150 years of the Hungarian Geological Institute, the life of Roland Eötvös and his scientific research, and the challenges in today’s research environment.

The geology of the Balaton Uplands and

Moments in the celebration of Hungarian geoscience centenaries.

geophysical research around Lake Balaton were reviewed. It was Roland Eötvös who made the first magnetic measurements on the ice of Lake Balaton, today seismic research continues today.

During the three sessions covering geology, geophysics and mining, 28 oral presentations and six posters introduced innovative methods and new scientific results and developments.

EAGE continues to honour the work of Baron Eötvös by presenting the Eötvös Award for the best paper published in Geophysical Prospecting every year. Past winners of this award include Ehsan Zabini Naeini, Evgeny Landa and Claudio Bagaini. The recipient of the 2020 Eötvös Award will be announced at the EAGE Annual Conference in Amsterdam.

Chance for start-ups to star at inaugural EAGE Digital 2020 EAGE, as an association made up of professionals, is always delighted to be able to support new initiatives, and emerging companies, hopefully giving them that extra boost that can support their development. We are delighted to announce, thanks to the generous support of our sponsor, OMV, EAGE’s First Digitalization Conference and Exhibition (EAGE Digital 2020), taking place in Vienna, Austria between 6-9 April 2020, will host an area dedicated to start-up companies.

In the past EAGE has had the pleasure of hosting Start-Up companies at a discounted rate our Annual Conference and Exhibition, but as a result of OMV’s support EAGE will go even further at EAGE Digital 2020, offering to cover the full

space and entrance costs for participating start-ups, enabling an even wider group to get exposure at one of the premier events in the energy industry dealing with the digital transformation.

Joining the exhibition at EAGE Digital 2020, start-ups will be able to reach a high-level audience of geoscientists and engineers working in the energy industry and the possibilities of digitalization in the industry, meeting decision-makers looking for solutions to the problems raised by the digital transformation and looking to invest in new opportunities.

Start-ups wishing to take part will need to submit a pitch of their companies to EAGE, who, along with a committee made up of industry experts, will FIRST

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select the most innovative and exciting companies to take part in EAGE Digital 2020. The energy industry is part of the digital transformation wave and needs to support new ideas, and with this latest effort, EAGE hopes to give fresh faces a chance to do just that.

The First EAGE Digitalization Conference and Exhibition will mark EAGE’s latest foray into digitalization in the energy industry, building on the popular Digital Transformation Area at the EAGE Annual 2019.

To learn more about EAGE Digital 2020 check out eagedigital.org or, if you are a new company considering applying for the Start-up area, reach out to us at corporaterelations@eage.org I

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Classic Prague city view.

Prague is command central for new local chapter Our network of chapters keeps growing. In October EAGE LC Czech Republic became the latest to join our global community. A dozen or so enthusiastic geoscientists have announced plans to organize a broad spectrum of EAGE-related activities in and around Prague in the upcoming years.

The membership may be modest at the moment but this new LC in Prague consists of a highly motivated mixture of exploration geophysicists and near-surface geoscientists from both academia and industry. Most members so far come from G Impuls and Seismik companies and the Institute of

Rock Structure and Mechanics, with Jaroslav Jirků and Leo Eisner leading the chapter.

The LC was planning an online webinar with Jörg Herwanger on Applied Oilfield Geomechanics for late November 2019 followed by a welcome reception and kick-off meeting sponsored by Seismik. Next year should include organization in March of the 8th EAGE Workshop on Passive Seismic to be held in Prague and APSLIM II – 19 IWSA at Želiv Premonstratensian Monastery in June following the EAGE Annual Meeting. The autumn activities may include a guided geological tour

combined with a needed beer tasting session to relax after hectic first six months of 2020.

In the near future LC Czech Republic expects to organize attendance at lectures of interest in Vienna and invite distinguished speakers from abroad. The LC is working closely with the national professional association CAAG (Czech Association of Applied Geophysicist) hoping this may lead to future EAGE near-surface events like conferences or workshops.

You can find out more via LinkedIn group ‘EAGE Local Chapter Czech Republic’.

EAGE Supports Digitalization Events Globally EAGE was a proud sponsor of the 2019 Oil and Gas Machine Learning Symposium held in Houston, Texas on 30 October 2019.

Represented at the event by our staff and a member of LC Houston, EAGE’s involvement in the event as a sponsor was just one of our latest exploration of the ‘digital’ frontier of the energy industry.

The Symposium focused on geoscience, reservoir characterization, and technology and highlighted developments in AI, machine learning, deep learning, data analytics, cloud computing, and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

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energy industry, a topic on which EAGE, through its own events and activities, has become an ambassador. Rather than sticking to its own portfolio (which includes our Digital Transformation Area at the EAGE Annual and our EAGE Digitalization Conference and Exhibition) we also wants to support other initiatives.

Aside from the Symposium in Houston EAGE is excited to be supporting a new joint initiative between our own Local Chapter Paris and the Digital Geoscience Team at IPGP Paris, that will work to tackle some of the problems related to digitalization within the subsurface software stack.

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DigitalGeoHack will be the first event of its kind organized directly by EAGE volunteers. Taking place 15-16 November 2019 at the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris this hackaton brings together multiple communities: LC Paris and local EAGE members as well as the brand new EAGE Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group, not to mention several of our EAGE Young Professionals.

So whether it be at one of our industry-leading short courses, webinars, workshops, conferences and exhibitions, or at one of the many events we support, EAGE is your one-stop-shop for the digital transformation.

EAGE NEWS

Support for Young Professionals is paying off

Appeal of mentoring.

EAGE is pleased to be a supporter of a Young Professional initiative on career opportunities due to take place in Oslo on 13 February 2020. The event in collaboration with the YP Network of Norsar CTBT (Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty) will invite speakers to review options open to those geoscientists and engineers early in their professional life.

This is just one example of how we are supporting a vibrant community of Young Professionals through events, pub-

lications and activities across the globe.

We already have 1200 participants from various disciplines contributing online via our LinkedIn group making our Young Professional Community one of the most dedicated of our Special Interested Communities (SICs). Just last month EAGE provided support for our Young Professionals group, Local Chapter Netherlands and the students of TU Delft organizing a geoscience networking event where experienced speakers from across the industry gave short insights into likely career trajectories and offered advice to the new generation.

We are also encouraged by the progress of the Mentoring Programme, originated within the Women in Geoscience and Engineering SIC and later expanded to a collaborative project of WGE and YP. It puts young professionals in touch with experienced personnel in our industry. Already in its third year, the 2019 programme. which ran from May to October, introduced the possibility for participants to meet face to face with their mentors. This allowed for more direct communication and even more tailored advice for our YPs. Student EAGE Member Sathes Kumar says, ‘[The experience] has been very helpful to me and provided guidance

on my career development. As a student, who is exploring the industry, it was great that my mentor linked me up with experts so that I could learn more on the topics that I was interested/curious about. I hope to utillize this platform more next year to get the most out of the programme.’

For mentors the programme can prove an enriching experience too, with one mentor noting the value of ‘having the ability to share knowledge, helping a young professional, and being challenged to a certain extent with the questions asked’ says Gordon B. Many mentors also find this to be a rewarding way to give back to the geoscience community and mould the future of their industry.

One mentor, Lucia Levato, suggests that the mentoring programme offers mentees a chance to take a step back from their day-to-day work and consider different ways to tackle specific problems.

‘As a mentor I value the mutual trust relationship and also the opportunity of learning about the working environments, experiences and countries of my mentee.’

One indication that EAGE is on the right track with its support for this ongoing initiative is that almost all participants involved this year have confirmed that they would be joining the programme again in 2020.

EAGE Student Calendar 21-DEC

LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE FIRST ROUND SUBMISSION DEADLINE

ONLINE

12 MAR 2020

EAGE ONLINE GEO-QUIZ (STUDENT CHAPTERS ONLY)

ONLINE

16-19 MAR

GEO 2020 - STUDENT CONFERENCE

BAHRAIN, THE KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

06-09 APR

9TH INTERNATIONALGEOLOGICAL AND GEOSCIENCE CONFERENCE (STUDENT ACTIVITIES)

SAINT PETERSBURG,RUSSIA

20-22 APR

NEAR SURFACE GEOSCIENCE & ENGINEERING CONFERENCE (REGIONAL GEO QUIZ)

CHANG MAI,THAILAND

7-JUN

LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE FINAL

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

8-JUN

LAURIE DAKE CHALLENGE ANNOUNCEMENT

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

8-11 JUN

EAGE ANNUAL CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION 2020 / STUDENT ACTIVITIES

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

5-10 JUL

9TH INTERNATIONAL GEOSCIENCE STUDENT CONFERENCE

AACHEN, GERMANY

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTRATION PLEASE CHECK THE STUDENT SECTION AT WWW.EAGE.ORG

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EAGE NEWS

Geomodel continues to shine new light on perennial issues Alexey Shevchenko (Perto Trace), chairman of Geomodel 2019 Organizing Committee, shares his impressions of the conference held on 19-23 September in Gelendzhik.

Another year, another successful meeting.

Geomodel in its 21st edition once again proved its status as one of the most durable and interesting events for the Russian geophysical community.

Attendance again highlighted the attraction of the occasion given that 140 presentations during the meeting, many focused on regional geology, came from a total of 240 participants representing around 100 different companies.

Every Geomodel forum provides the chance to hear updates on existing technological applications as well as to discover

pre-stack depth migration, which is only now a routine technique in data processing. A.G. Averbukh and M.B. Rappaport devised a method to estimate and correct wave absorption from seismic gathers in the 1970s. This was reinvented in the West and has come back to Russia as Q-tomography and Q-migration. A group of geophysicists from Leningrad developed methods for wavefield modelling in the mid 1950s but only today have these techniques found wider acceptance with some of the aspects of the application brought in from the West.

Staging of Geomodel 2019.

something new. Our feedback from those who came to Gelendzhik suggests we once again met or exceeded expectations.

V.I. Bondarev reports that during the two well attended sessions on seismic data processing comprised 13 presentations devoted to different theoretical and applied aspects of prospective petroleum geological plays in Russia and abroad.

In his session chairman report М.S. Denisov provided the event with some historical perspective stating that the algebraic basis of many methods of seismic data processing was built in the 1960s and 1970s and maybe even earlier. At that time geophysicists had no such powerful computational tools for using these algorithms in their everyday practice.

For example, Yu. V. Timoshin suggested 12

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This year’s event witnessed a lot of reports devoted to non-seismic geophysical techniques, and most of our session chairmen have concluded that the active development of this approach is very important for widening the capabilities of geophysics in solving the problems of petroleum prospecting. The future here lies with 3D data processing and with integration of seismic and non-seismic methods as was exemplified in the presentation on the techniques for statistical correction of seismic data obtained from gravity and electromagnetic data.

Unconventional reservoirs were, without a doubt, considered an increasingly significant topic at the meeting. As a result a number of participants reviewed a wide range of problems from thermal and ther-

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molysis effects in organic matter to hydrate formation and development of gas-hydrate accumulation.

Some of the current problems of the petroleum industry and the technical progress it has yet to achieve were discussed by B.N. Enikeev, one of our most respected chairmen. He pointed out that Russia has fewer and fewer niches for small innovative companies, while the big ones search for technocratic solutions. At the same time, the craving for digitizing in geophysics often makes us cut corners and sacrifice the quality of our research, which is inexcusable.

Another new session put together reports covering geological and geophysical studies performed in the Tomsk Region. According to P.S. Vereshchagin and M.K. Tarakanovsky, the chairmen of the session, expertise in numerical modelling has become a major feature, which should be encouraged in future events.

All the session chairmen commented that the reach of the conference is becoming increasingly wide throwing up opportunities for discussion in the coming years. The reports devoted to acoustic emission; quantitative analysis of full -size core sample images; methods for determining permeability in shale deposits; seismic wavefield interpretation in Jurassic and Bazhenov formations; and non-linear algorithms to widen the seismic field spectrum attracted a great deal of interest.

As a trend this year we saw an encouraging number of new faces, mostly younger which is a good sign for the future.

As ever we had commercial presentations delivered notably by Halliburton (Russian Division), Landmark, Claudnet, IPLab and GPD. Our thanks to Yuzhmorgeologiya for providing the venue, Rosgeo for its partnership and of course to EAGE for its unflagging upport.

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EAGE NEWS 

EAGE to organize first workshop on fibre optic sensing for reservoir and production monitoring in Amsterdam

Given the rapidly advancing developments in fibre optic sensing technologies, it is timely that EAGE is holding its first workshop on Fibre Optic Sensing for Reservoir and Production Monitoring in Amsterdam, on 9-11 March 2020.

This workshop brings top experts from Silixa, Shell, Eni, Saudi Aramco, OptaSense, BP, NORSAR, Febus Optics,

fibrisTerre and Curtin University all represented in the Technical Committee. The event aims to solidify the understanding of fibre optic sensing technologies within the geoscience community through a rigorous technical programme addressing the main areas of: Geophysical Monitoring, Technology Integration, Flow Measurements and Current Challenges and Future Needs.

In addition to the two-day technical programme, the workshop includes a oneday short course examining the fundamentals of fibre optic sensing with a key focus on features and applications of distributed sensors for geophysical measurements.

The workshop is suitable for all E&P geophysicists with an interest in fibre optic sensing technologies. This includes students and professionals in academic institutions, engineers, equipment manufacturers and suppliers, survey design geophysicists and processing geophysicists.

Registration for the workshop is now open and we encourage intending participants to take advantage of the early bird rates before 12 January 2020. More details about the programme can be found on the event website, via our calendar of events: events.eage.org.

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EAGE NEWS

World-class Technical Programme for every professional The Technical Programme at the EAGE Annual not only includes research papers of the highest order chosen by our expert panel of reviewers, but many other opportunities to learn and discuss the geoscience and engineering challenges ahead.

Opening Debate at the EAGE Annual 2019 in London.

The EAGE Annual returns to Amsterdam for its 82nd edition in 2020. So we offer a familiar venue to experience the full conference programme, meet with professional peers, and be informed about all the latest innovation in your particular field.

As ever, the conference is designed to cover research and practice in a wide variety of disciplines including geophysics, geology, mining and civil engineering, computer science, HSE and sustainability. In addition to the Technical Programme, we also have on the agenda a series of Dedicated Sessions tackling hot topics in the industry.

We will also be continuing to run our popular Forum Sessions - a series of discussions between significant figures from the industry, bringing an authoritative perspective to the pressing issues affecting the wider geoscience and engineering field. Debating diverse critical topics, the sessions will bring together leaders from different organizations with their particular visions for the future.

For those interested in looking for more focused educational sessions, check out all the workshops, short courses and field trips. You have the possibility to attend a total of 17 topical workshops, taking place on the Sunday and Monday before the main Technical Programme begins and at the end of the week on the Friday. The one-day short courses are brought to you by acknowledged

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experts (both industry professionals and academics). The field trips are planned to provide some special geoscientific points of interest in some of the more scenic areas of The Netherlands.

The total package of events in Amsterdam offers visitors a broad understanding of modern geoscience and engineering, and the upcoming generation of professionals are also very much included. This year the student presentations will be integrated into the Technical Programme so that students get the full event experience and their work reaches the widest audience possible.

We will again be working with our EAGE Communities, Young Professionals and Women in Geoscience and Engineering, for their special meetings, and the Decarbonization and Energy Transition group will lead one of the dedicated sessions of the Technical Programme, likely to attract a great deal of interest.

Reminder: If you want to be a part of our Technical Programme, we invite all authors to submit an extended abstract. The submission deadline for the EAGE Annual 2020 is 15 January 2020, 23:59 (GMT+1). Please refer to www.eageannual2020.org to find out more about the submission process and instructions, or contact us at abstracts@ eage.org.

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EAGE NEWS

Amsterdam here we come!

Introducing what’s in store at our flagship event, the 82nd EAGE Conference and Exhibition in Amsterdam on 8-11 June 2020

Our job is to meet the challenge of the energy ‘trilemma’ Invitation to the Annual from Marc Gerrits, exploration vice president, Shell and chairman, EAGE 2020 Local Advisory Committee.

Marc Gerrits, Shell EVP Exploration.

One of the greatest challenges facing the industry today is delivering solutions that address energy security, energy equity and environmental sustainability - the three core dimensions of the energy transition. These three pillars form a ‘trilemma’, affecting individuals, industry, governments and regulators. The LAC for EAGE 2020 recognizes the challenges and believes we, as geoscientists and engineers, all have a role to play in reinforcing collective ownership and responsibility to deal with these challenges, both today and tomorrow.

Energy security includes the ongoing role for oil and gas, complemented increasingly by the diversification of cleaner renewable energy options including geothermal. We will need to be inclusive in our approach - inclusive of all energy sources, but also cognizant of all the skills, talents and digital and technical solutions that the energy transition will unlock and require.

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Energy equity recognizes that even though discovered resources exist, these may remain inaccessible due to technical or economic factors. From the perspective of the consumer, especially in developing economies, energy poverty remains a real concern and access to affordable energy a key challenge. How can we, as geoscientists and engineers, contribute to finding the balance for cleaner, affordable energy.

Geoscientists and geophysicists, and engineers have always interrogated our planet to unlock its secrets and to articulate the dilemmas around environmental sustainability. That hasn’t changed and in 2020 we need to be able to speak passionately about the impact of our ambition for robust energy systems. These are systems that can deliver sustainable solutions in

Evening scene in Amsterdam.

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line with climate goals whilst meeting the increasing demand for energy and natural resources. This also includes energy and waste storage options like CCS, all ultimately influencing our ongoing social license to operate.

On behalf of EAGE and the Local Advisory Committee, I would like to invite you to join us at the RAI conference centre in Amsterdam for the 82nd EAGE Conference and Exhibition. The theme for the event is ‘Delivering for the Energy Challenge: today and tomorrow’.

We invite you to join the leaders and professionals covering a wide spectrum of industry, academia and other organizations from across the globe in our discussions around the energy ‘trilemma’. We look forward to seeing you in Amsterdam in 2020.

EAGE NEWS

The Exhibition that caters for every interest Our outstanding Annual Exhibition continues to attract most of the key players in the industries we serve. Companies, academic and research institutes, government agencies, etc are all represented. We explain why.

The Exhibition at the Annual remains a must for companies and organizations looking for exposure to their customers and those interested in their products and services. That’s why expect once again that over 350 companies will advertise their presence at the Exhibition to showcase cutting-edge products, services and opportunities. This is the place where you can stay up-to-date with the latest technical knowledge and grow your network of invaluable contacts for benchmarking, partnering and building your company and career. Exhibitors can anticipate an attendance of an estimated 6500 people from all over the world, many of whom are potential clients, company influencers and

‘93% of your peers would recommend the EAGE Annual Exhibition to those in their network.’

(Source: EAGE Annual 2019 Participant Survey)

purchase decision makers. Our Exhibition welcomes everyone, from national and international oil companies, service companies, start-ups to consultants, licensing agencies and governments.

At the Exhibition you can find multiple special interest areas, committed to specific disciplines. The International Prospect Centre is a high-level networking

location providing licensing agencies and national oil companies the opportunity to promote exploration and investment opportunities, meet key industry players, inform the industry on current and new exploration activities, announce licensing rounds, promote acreage, release data packages and present potential projects and developments.

The Digital Transformation Area seeks to explore and showcase forward-thinking technology and workflows through a programme of presentations alongside the main EAGE technical agenda. In the University Area, universities are provided with the opportunity to promote their latest research and developments. In our brand new Geothermal Area, EAGE will bring together energy companies, service companies, operators and research centres which focus heavily on geothermal energy exploration. At the Start-up Area you can learn about hear what may be evolving in next generation technology.

No one can ignore the EAGE Community Hub. This is the one-stop shop for everything EAGE has to offer. You can find about all the activities that EAGE organizes for its communities to support professional, educational and personal growth. Career advice, motivational speeches, events for EAGE’s special interest groups, student-related activities and the Bookshop featuring lots of geo-titles are all part of the Hub.

We know networking is a big part of what delegates expect when they come to the Annual, and we do are best to facilitate this. The Exhibition kicks off with the Icebreaker Reception, an informal networking opportunity where you can meet up with colleagues and friends

Busy exhibition.

and get a first view of the Exhibition accompanied by tasty food and drinks.

During the whole event there will be freshly brewed coffee available all day at the coffee plazas. Then, at the end of the day, drinks are served throughout the Exhibition area giving everyone a chance for more informal chat.

The Annual will provide something of value to everyone. So be sure to register as a delegate or exhibitor sooner rather than later. If you have any questions, please refer to our website www.eageannual2020.org or you can contact exhibition@eage.org if you want to be part of the exhibition programme.

The EAGE Student Fund supports activities that help bridge the gap between the university and professional environments for students of geosciences and engineering. Thanks to our Student Fund contributors we can continue supporting students around the globe and through this securing the future of our industry. For more information to become a Student Fund contributor, please visit eagestudentfund.org or contact us at students@eage.org.

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Welcome to the decade of dually universes There’s no need to consult theorists from Plato to today’s quantum Schlumberger WesternGeco, CGG, Shearwater Geoservices, PGS, physics gurus to understand the concept of the parallel universe.

TGS and Polarcus. They have all reported healthy order books Those involved in the exploration and production of oil and gas going into the New Year. Seismic fleet utilization is the highest for are living the experience on a daily basis. It isn’t much fun and years, survey prices are firming and the multi-client market appears the safest prediction going into 2020 is that it will only get worse. to be buoyant.

The majority of EAGE members are still involved in oil-related Analysts who have so far made their guess on the likely 2020 business and have to go about their business in an increasingly price of oil suggest little change to the current price hovering schizophrenic environment. They help to conaround $60 per barrel for Brent crude. The large tribute to the supply of energy and consumables ‘Amid all this craziness, assumptions here are that Saudi Arabia and that allow people mainly in industrialized counthe geoscience and Russia hold the line on continuing production tries to enjoy a lifestyle unimaginable in the cutbacks, US shale oil output doesn’t go crazy, engineering services fears of global recession do not materialize, and poorer nations of the world.

Yet it is mainly within these more prosthere are no significant disruptions to supply. sector has to go perous areas of the world that there is a rising Moody’s recently stated it expects about its business.’ chorus of protest against the very activities global crude supply growth will that enable their own relatively comfortable living conditions. outpace demand through 2020, in line with OPEC, the US The perceived impact of climate change now and in the future is Energy Information Administration, and the International Energy fuelling this angry mood. Justifiable or not, it leaves servants of Agency, which collectively forecast a 500,000-800,000 b/d buildthe oil industry beleaguered. They continue to supply a demand up of inventory through 2020. for their products that shows no sign of abating any time soon.

The implications for the oil-related services industry seem Arguably they do this with more than a token of responsiblity, i.e. pretty clear. The welcome, even life-saving, pick-up in demand with increasing concern for the environment while investing in and pricing being experienced in the marine seismic services alternatives to hydrocarbons upon which the world depends. sector after so many years in the doldrums seems unlikely to swell None of this counts in the alternate reality of the many who into a boom. Although the budgets are not set yet, the potential expect a decarbonization transformation tomorrow but do little big spending oil companies are unlikely to be splashing out on meaningful to affect change, e.g., an estimated 850 million people ambitious exploration programmes any time soon. It may be shortworldwide continue to get by without electricity. Instead the term thinking, but they are not in the mood to risk big bucks on discontented rail against polluting oil companies and uncaring programmes that do not earn production revenue for anything up governments. to ten years down the road.

Amid all this craziness, the geoscience and engineering The risks are simply too great for the supermajors and others. services sector has to go about its business applying the normal The focus on optimizing returns from existing reserves and supmetrics and ignoring the noise interference. The good news is that plemental near field production will likely persist. The strategy is seismic-related activities are on a more even keel than they have generating major cashflow employable for share buy-backs and been since the disastrous downturn of 2013-14. The leading players dividend payments which delight shareholders. If and when the with their main businesses in marine seismic acquisition (either time comes, the extra cash also makes buying already established with vessels of via multi-client offerings) have now devolved to reserves a potentially easier, less risky option than launching into

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come up with an obviously cost effective system. That is bound new exploration. This cautious approach also takes account of big to change, maybe sooner rather than later, especially if the main unknowables such as the pace of the energy transition (spurred by marine seismic contractors decide to focus on the market potential. the climate change lobby) and hence the mid to long-term demand To date the leaders in the seabed seismic field such as Seabed for oil products.

Geosolutions, Magseis Fairfield, Axxis Geo Solutions, SAExploTherefore, improving results emerging from the main players ration and their technology suppliers have lacked the capital and in marine seismic service sector disguise the dire straits that they sufficient technology support to bring about needed efficiencies, so have been through since the 2013/14 downturn. The break in far tantalizingly out of reach. Indeed they have found maintaining the clouds could well be temporary but it does provide several continuous work for their crews an operational and financial chalcompanies with the opportunity to restore their precarious financial lenge. Probably the company to watch is BGP, which could be said circumstances. PGS has a major unavoidable refinancing ahead to have missed out on the towed-streamer era, but looks determined in a couple of years, Polarcus has done well to sustain itself with to be a leader in OBN projects. substantial debt hanging over it that can potenIn contrast to marine, land seismic remains tially be paid down, and CGG is rebuilding its ‘On the positive side a forlorn relative. Outside the desert areas of finances from a major restructure during its market discipline has the Middle East and North Africa, the market is period of bankruptcy protection two years ago. so far prevailed in the patchy to non-existent. In the historically active Meantime, Norwegian investors with deep pockets have bet large on Shearwater’s dom- marine seismic sector.’ but currently sluggish North American region, TGS has proved an exception by developing inant position in the marine seismic survey multi-client surveys over interesting shale potential acreage. The vessel market. This has obvious risks, as others have found in the promised node-based wireless land seismic acquisition revolution past. These include pressure to keep as many of its boats working to replace conventional cable has stalled, not for lack of innovation as possible, the cost of operating different technologies inherited including evolving hybrid systems. The demand simply doesn’t from fleet acquisition (in this case from WesternGeco, Dolphin exist for the time being leaving contractors and equipment manuGeophysical and CGG), and quite likely the costly replacement facturers frustrated. of older streamers, a prospect that will face all marine seismic Reflecting industry trends, EAGE has introduced two new contractors sooner rather than later. special interest communities for its members, one for artificial On the positive side market discipline has so far prevailed in intelligence (AI), the other on decarbonization and energy transithe marine seismic sector, partly because the drastic reductions tion which are a harbinger of the future. Assuming AI is shorthand in vessel count since 2013 has brought a better balance between for digital transformation, then we can expect to hear much more supply and demand. The change in business model adopted by on this in 2020 and beyond.

Schlumberger WesternGeco and CGG has also helped. Both are Oil industry geoscientists were reluctant to embrace machine now committed to an asset-light strategy with no vessels and learning as anything more than relabelling of current practice. Now dependence on multi-client acquisition programmes to feed their Cloud technology and high performance computing are opening formidable data processing, interpretation and other services to oil doors to new data processing and imaging possibilities. The major company clients. It is still to emerge how the intensifying of their oil companies have been notably enthusiastic about the likely efforts in the multi-client sphere will affect the marketplace. improvements in cost, speed of delivery and quality of the data that It may not be that significant. Multi-client is becoming the may be achieved. One unintended consequence may be a shift in preferred option for more and more oil company exploration the traditional role of geoscientist with more emphasis in the future programmes so the market is expanding. on computer-related skills.

One obvious consequence of the long period of distress is that Applications of seismic technology in carbon capture and the technology race has slowed down. Getting ahead by building sequestration are obvious in terms of geological site selection bigger, more efficient or greener vessels is off the agenda. Modest and the monitoring of stored CO2. But as yet projects are sparse R&D continues in towed-streamer acquisition. Most attention with few countries as yet paying little more than lip service to the is being paid to deployment of sources from an efficiency and technology possibilities. On the other hand geothermal power in environmental point of view including increasing focus on marine which geoscience can play a role has a serious following as part of vibrators with PGS reportedly closing in on a commercially viable the energy transition. solution.

All things considered, the opening of the new decade will see The towed streamer acquisition technique itself is being oil industry seismic E&P still the main, albeit diminished, activity increasingly challenged by the superior imaging resolution benefits for geoscience professionals. The hey-day may be over, but there is of ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic acquisition which can no telling how long seismic-related services will be required as part deliver incomparable results for complex geology, near field and of the support for supplying oil and gas to the world of alternative 4D seismic surveys. Towed streamer only remains competitive universes. because developers of OBN technology applications have still not Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.

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NEWS RELEASE

November 6, 2019.

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HIGHLIGHTS

INDUSTRY NEWS

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UK imposes moratorium on fracking

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Seismic data demonstrates prospective fields in the UK North Sea

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Exploration round-up

Big seismic players report healthy net profits

Energy firms are spending more on data.

The main seismic data providers have reported strong third quarter results with TGS, CGG, PGS and Polarcus all reporting net profits.

Chief executives making their third quarter statements pointed to higher spending from the big oil companies in purchasing data and the benefit of restructuring in the industry in the past two years, which has effectively halved the number of seismic vessels.

Duncan Eley, Polarcus CEO, said that the price for seismic data has increased by more than 50% compared to 2018 and will continue to improve because of the steady increase in underlying demand.

Reporting the company’s third quarter net profit of $13 million, he said: ‘The opportunity to generate further improved margins in the industry is driven by the steady increase in underlying demand combined with the supply-side discipline observed to date.’

Reporting a net profit of $31.5 million, Rune Olav Pedersen, president and chief executive officer of PGS, said that improved cash flow from the big oil and gas companies was leading to a recovery in the contract seismic market with contract revenues of $76 million more than double those of $34 million in Q3 2018.

The current contract seismic market was driven by more 4D acquisition and generally higher demand for new proprietary seismic data.

‘For completed and secured 2019 work, our prices are on average close to 40% higher than the 2018 average,’ he said.

Reporting a third quarter net profit of $41 million CGG CEO Sophie Zurquiyah, said that the company’s asset light multi-client model was paying dividends after CGG divested its fleet.

‘Our performance was very strong this quarter, across all three businesses,’ she said. ‘In particular, multi-client delivered FIRST

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high prefunding and after-sales, which included favourable one-off transfer fees. In the current market environment E&P companies continuing to prioritize spending around quicker returns, and generating free cash flow.’

Reporting a third quarter net profit of $40 million, TGS said in its results statement that the seismic acquisition industry was now more sustainable for the long term because of restructuring and M&A activity, including TGS’s acquisition of Spectrum.

‘Most of the companies are now either pure vessel providers or pure multi-client companies, while the integrated model has been mostly abandoned,’ said TGS in its results statement. ‘Moreover, there has been substantial M&A activity resulting in a more consolidated industry.

The acquisition capacity has been significantly reduced, with the number of available vessels currently at less than half of the 2014 level. Together, these changes should contribute to a healthier industry in the longer-term, with better quality on deliveries and improved economics.’

However, TGS also struck a note of caution about the market overall. ‘E&P companies are maintaining a cautious approach to spending and although the seismic industry experienced a strong Q3 2019, benefiting particularly from client M&A and asset transfers, the size of the market is still below the average level observed over the past 15 years.’

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Results round-up CGG has reported third quarter net profit of $41 million on group revenue of $323 million compared to a net loss a net of -$98 million on group revenues of $335 million in the second quarter of 2019 and a net loss of -$1.5 million on revenues of $388 million in the third quarter of 2018. Operating income of $98 million compared with $52 million in Q2 2019 and $69 million in the third quarter of 2018. Third quarter segment revenue of $382 million compared with $335 million in the second quarter of 2019 and $281.5 in the third quarter of 2018.

Multi-client revenue of $190 million was a 92% increase year on year, and included prefunding of $65 million and $125 million in after sales.

Polarcus has reported a third quarter net profit of $13.7 million on revenues of $103.4 million. This compares to a net profit of $0.6 million on revenues of

$64 million in the second quarter of 2019 and a net loss of -$8.4 million on revenues of $55 million in the third quarter of 2018.

Operating profit was $22 million compared to $8.7 million in Q2 2019 and an operating loss of -$1 million in Q3 2018.

Backlog of $145 million, compared to $170 million at the same time last year PGS reported third quarter net income of $31.5 million on group revenues of $276.5 million, compared to revenues of $192 million and a net loss of -$49 million in the second quarter of 2019 and revenues of $163 million and a net loss of -$35 million in the third quarter of 2019.

High sales from surveys in the processing phase contributed to a high pre-funding level in Q3 and as a result PGS expects full year prefunding to be in its targeted range of 80-120%.

TGS has reported net profit of $40 million on net operating revenues of

$162 million, compared with a net loss of -$1.7 million on revenues of $105 million in Q2 2019 and a net profit of $32 million on revenues of $133 million in the third quarter of 2018. Segment revenues of $264 million (an increase of 88% year-on-year) with an operating profit of $102.5 million compared to segment revenues of $166 million with an operating profit of $43 million in Q2 2019 and segment revenue of $141 million and operating profit of $24 million in Q3 2019.

EMGS recorded its best third quarter results for more than four years, recording revenues of $26.9 million, up from $6 million in the third quarter 2018 and up from $14.5 million in the second quarter 2019. Adjusted EBITDA of $11.6 million was up from a -$5.9 million loss in the third quarter 2018. Backlog at the end of the quarter was $78 million, whereof $37 million was firm.

Shearwater wins first contract offshore South Africa

The vessel SW Cook will acquire 3650 linear km offshore South Africa.

Shearwater GeoServices has won a contract from Total for a 2D seismic acquisition and fast-track processing project offshore South Africa.

The two-month survey at Block 11B12B will be Shearwater’s first project offshore South Africa. Starting in Q4 2019 and covering an initial programme of 3650 linear km, it will be acquired by the multi-purpose vessel (MPV) SW Cook.

Data will be processed using an onboard computer facility linked by satellite to client and project teams.

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‘The SW Cook worked for Total in the North Sea this summer and we are very pleased to see it continue to acquire seismic data for Total in South Africa on a project where we will also leverage the flexibility of our processing and imaging teams,’ said Irene Waage Basili, the CEO of Shearwater GeoServices. ’They will provide fast turnaround results to Total during the survey enabling rapid decision making.’

Meanwhile, Shearwater has won a contract for 3D seismic survey in the

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Eastern Mediterranean. The one-month survey will be executed in Q4 2019 using a seismic vessel with a 14-streamer configuration.

‘Shearwater has a long track record in the region, and we are pleased to return for this survey,’ said Irene Waage Basili, the CEO of Shearwater GeoServices. ’Our high-capacity seismic vessels enable efficient surveys which combined with the scale and flexibility of our fleet, have yielded a significant increase in utilization this year.’

Finally, Robert Hobbs, CEO of TGS until 2016, is joining Shearwater GeoServices as chairman of the board, replacing Karl-Johan Gombrii. ‘Shearwater was created with the clear ambition of becoming a leading marine seismic acquisition company,’ said Hobbs. ‘It has successfully executed on this strategy through strong leadership… I will leverage my industry knowledge and I look forward to challenging and supporting management as the company develops its industry-leading position.’

INDUSTRY NEWS

UK imposes moratorium on fracking

TGS forms partnership with GIS data provider TGS and WhiteStar have teamed up to combine TGS well data and WhiteStar land grid GIS data, coupled with field and pool data.

WhiteStar provides expert land grid GIS data and software land mapping solutions for the oil and gas industry, forestry, government, and others. This partnership allows for TGS to integrate WhiteStar products to its mapping applications, R360 and LONGBOW. WhiteStar will also offer TGS’ validated well header and field and pool GIS data through its sales channels for customers.

Katja Akentieva, EVP onshore and well data at TGS, said, ‘We believe [the partnership] will allow our customers greater access to solutions-based land and well data all in one place. Clients can now expect higher quality, cost-effective data solutions, with access to seamless grid coverage and accurate well locations.’

R360, a geoscience data portal, integrates TGS data libraries with existing technologies and applications. It allows customers to readily access global geoscience data, including detailed well statistics and well performance information. In December, a significant user-guided upgrade to the R360 portal will be rolled out, with features including enhanced text and map search functions.

Anti-fracking groups have been active in the UK.

The British Government has said it will not support any more fracking projects for the foreseeable future after recent small earthquakes on a site in Lanchashire in the north of the UK where horizontal wells have been fracked.

A report by the UK Oil and Gas Authority on Cuadrilla’s Preston New Road site in Lancashire in the north of the UK concluded that ‘it is not possible with current technology to accurately predict the probability of tremors associated with fracking’ On the basis of the disturbance caused to residents living near Preston New Road as well as new scientific analysis, the UK government has therefore imposed a moratorium on fracking ‘until compelling new evidence is provided’.

‘Ministers have always been clear that the exploration of England’s shale gas reserves could only proceed if the science shows that it is safe, sustainable and of minimal disturbance to those living and working near by,’ said a British government statement. ‘For that reason, government introduced tight planning controls through the Infrastructure Act 2015 and set strict limits on seismicity, in consultation with industry.’

The government also confirmed that it will not be taking forward proposed planning reforms for shale gas developments. Business, Energy and Clean Growth minister Kwasi Kwarteng said that the government was acting on its own monitoring scheme: ‘The Traffic Light System was introduced in 2012 as an evidence-based method of regulating seismicity caused by shale gas exploration. It has operated at

Preston New Road, allowing the OGA to swiftly put a halt to activity when required – including after several significant events this summer.’

Cuadrilla, which operates the Preston New Road site and provided data from its horizontal shale well (PNR2) in October 2018 for the OGA and four other consultant studies into Preston New Road, said that it will ‘review these interim reports in detail and continue to work constructively with the OGA to provide further detailed data to address concerns so that the moratorium can be lifted and the highly prospective Bowland gas resource further appraised and developed’.

Oil and Gas Authority director of regulation Tom Wheeler said: ‘The OGA believes that further detailed geomechanical analysis would be needed before we could evaluate with confidence whether hydraulic fracturing could resume in the Fylde, or elsewhere, consistent with the government’s policy aims.’

The British Geological Survey has estimated that the Bowland shale in the north of England contains significant gasin-place to meet the needs of the UK for many decades.

Cuadrilla said that it has shown that natural gas can be recovered from UK shale and that this gas, at its PNR site, is of extremely high quality. Cuadrilla has also stated that given the high calorific value of natural gas in the Upper Bowland shale it considers that the gas could flow directly into the UK’s extensive gas network without requiring additional treatment or processing, other than water separation.

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A graphic showing an overlay of WhiteStar Grid® (black and white land grid) with TGS field and pool data (colored polygons) to provide basic geographical context for oil and gas basemaps.

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Brazils latest oil and gas auctions flop Brazil’s Transfer of Rights auction and 6th production round held last month have been shunned by international oil companies.

Brazil’s auction of four offshore blocks last month, billed as the country’s ‘biggest-ever oil auction’, flopped as high prices and the dominant role of state-run oil company Petrobras is said to have ‘scared off’ global oil majors.

Local company Petroleo Brasileiro and Chinese companies CNOOC and CNODC made the only bids in the Transfer of Rights (TOR) surplus round. Two of four blocks on offer (Sepia and Atapu) got no bids.

Steep signing bonuses and tricky production-sharing deals, giving Petrobras preferential rights in Brazil’s most promising offshore areas, discouraged oil majors from bidding.

Brazil’s government received $17 billion in signing fees from the minimum bid by Petrobras in a consortium with the Chinese for the round’s biggest block, Buzios. A lone Petrobras bid secured the smallest block, Itapu.

Ivan Cima, managing director at consultancy Welligence, called the round a ‘total disaster’ referring to lack of private participation and the loss of $9 billion in potential signing bonuses. ‘The round was doomed by high signature bonuses, the overly complex and non-transparent Petrobras reimbursements, and marginal economics,’ he said.

In the run-up to the auction, companies including Total and BP said they would not be bidding. However, Brazilian mines and energy minister Bento Albuquerque said the government was ‘satisfied’ with the results of the auction. He said the

Sepia and Atapu blocks, which attracted no interest, would be put up for auction next year.

On the Buzios block, Petrobras took a 90% stake while 5% went to each of two Chinese partners: China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Corp (CNODC).

Big oil companies also stayed away from Brazil’s 6th production round — presalt. Only one of five blocks was awarded, with international energy companies once again put off by big upfront payments and complex royalty schemes.

Petrobras won the Aram block in partnership with China’s CNODC. Among prequalifed companies that did not bid in the 6th production round were BP, Chevron, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Petronas, Repsol, Shell and Wintershall.

TGS, Polarcus and DUG strike multi-client deal offshore Malaysia

Petronas has awarded a consortium of TGS, Polarcus and Down Under Geosolutions exclusive rights to seek pre-funding, acquire and process a project to deliver to a contiguous broadband 3D volume of more than 40,000 km2 covering the Malay Basin.

The resulting Peninsular Malaysia Mega-Merge seismic dataset will comprise both broadband reprocessing of existing 24

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legacy 3D data from field tapes, as well as new broadband 3D acquisition over existing gaps, providing broadband pre-stack time (PSTM) and pre-stack depth migration (PSDM) products over the Malay Basin.

‘For the very first time, this project will provide industry access to coherent regional broadband 3D seismic imaging over the prolific Malay Basin,’ said a

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TGS statement. ‘This project itself plans to serve not only as an exploration framework for extending viable play fairways to surrounding areas, but also for drilling and developing opportunities — from subtle accumulations that have been overlooked, to deeper targets which remain untested. Additionally, the project will utilize a single high-end broadband acquisition technology for data consistency, ensuring that customers can make use of a high quality, seamless survey merge.’

DownUnder GeoSolutions (DUG) will be responsible for all processing work for the project — to be undertaken in Kuala Lumpur— and Polarcus will be responsible for all acquisition activity. The project is expected to start in Q2 2020.

Rune Eng, executive vice-president, Southern Hemisphere, at TGS, said, ‘This is a mature and proven hydrocarbon province and together, TGS, DUG Geo and Polarcus form a strong consortium that will deliver state-of-the-art products to industry to facilitate exploration and production work in all relevant peninsular Malaysia areas for years to come.’

the leading provider of OBN seismic solutions Booth # 1040 - EAGE LONDON 3-6 JUNE

INDUSTRY NEWS

Seismic data demonstrates prospective fields in the UK North Sea

i3 Energy has shot data over the Liberator Field in the North Sea.

i3 Energy’s well in the Serenity prospect in the UK North Sea has been integrated with recently acquired seismic data to estimate 197 MMbbls STOIIP for the Serenity Closure and a remapping of the Liberator field to 459 STOIIP MMbbls.

Majid Shafiq, CEO of i3 Energy, said: ‘We now have proven oil in a second structure on our licences. It is the culmination of three years of detailed geological and reservoir analysis and validates our regional model for the Liberator and Serenity oilfields and neighbouring structures. We will now integrate data from the 13/23c-10 well into our geological modelling as we develop an appraisal and development plan for Serenity, which we believe is connected to the undeveloped Tain oilfield.

‘This result also adds confidence to our revised mapping of the Liberator field, which utilizes the same reprocessed seismic dataset now used to map the Serenity

field, and integrates data from the recently drilled 13/23c-9 Liberator well.’

The Serenity 13/23c-10 well results show a mapped oil column of approximately 622ft TVD in the Captain sand alone. The net oil interval in the Captain sand was c.10ft of high porosity (30%) sand and thicker than in the up-dip Tain discovery consistent with the company’s expectation that the Captain sands thicken to the west in Serenity (as demonstrated by the c.150 ft of sand seen in the offset 13/23a-7A well situated to the west of Serenity). Reservoir quality is expected to be equivalent to that seen in the Tain wells, one of which (13/23b-5Z) tested at an estimated 2750 bopd from a 5ft interval in the Captain sand. Oil samples to be recovered from the downhole sampling tool are expected to be of similar quality to the 32° API oil found in the Tain field.

Preliminary petrophysical information, obtained from the Measurement

While Drilling (MWD) tools in the well, indicated that the targeted upper Captain sands were absent at the 13/23c-9 location. This was an unexpected result. The company thereafter acquired a vertical seismic profile (VSP) and a shear wave sonic log from the well.

With the unexpected results, i3 Energy acquired the only other available modern seismic dataset over the area. Unprocessed samples of this data had previously been reviewed by the company and were considered to be too ‘noisy’ for meaningful interpretation. However, the quality of the newly reprocessed version of this seismic data was significantly improved and included broadband frequency information allowing an inversion process to be applied, providing a new visualization of the reservoir architecture. i3 Energy’s initial acquisition of this seismic data covered approximately 50 km2 over Liberator, and the company subsequently purchased an additional 100 km2 of the data which encapsulates Serenity.

The new visualization of the field closely matches the results seen in the 13/29c-9 well. The dataset has also been validated by predicting the observed results in the Serenity 13/23c-10 well.

The inversion analysis, combined with the reflectivity mapping, has been used to generate revised mapping for the Liberator field.

The company’s internal estimate of overall STOIIP in the A1, A2, A3 and A4 areas of the field has decreased from 91 to 63 MMbbls, while in the prospective west of the field the STOIIP has increased from 226 to 396 MMbbls.

Polarcus shoots more surveys offshore Australia Polarcus has won a contract for an XArray marine seismic acquisition project in Australia with an approximate duration of one month. The project will commence in Q1 2020 immediately after completion of a prior XArray project in Australia.

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Polarcus will then shoot a one-month multi-client contract offshore Australia — its third consecutive project in the region.

The company said that it had already secured ‘high industry prefunding’ for the project.

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Meanwhile, Polarcus has won a contract for a 4D marine seismic acquisition offshore West Africa.

The project is expected to take two months and is scheduled to start in Q4 2019.

INDUSTRY NEWS

UK oil and gas industry makes efficiency improvements The UK oil and gas industry has made significant improvements to project delivery performance and budget overspend, according to the Oil and Gas Authority’s (OGA) 2018 UKCS Projects Insights Report.

The report shows that in 2018 60% of projects were delivered on time compared with 25% for pre-2017 figures; overspends reduced from an average of 35% for pre-2017 to 10% in 2018; Average Unit Development Cost (UDC) has reduced by nearly 60% from pre-2017 figures to £8/boe in 2018; and £3.9 billion capital expenditure (CAPEX) has been approved for 20 recently consented developments with 60 projects currently being worked on by operators over the next five years

The OGA said that its introduction of Supply Chain Action Plans (SCAPs) in January 2018 has been ‘a catalyst in creating a collaborative relationship between operators and the supply chain when working on capital projects’.

Glenn Brown, operations coordination manager at the OGA said: ‘Industry has worked hard in recent years to meet deadlines and budgets for capital projects by improving planning and processes, sharing learnings and collaborating more and there has been real progress. I would urge industry to build on these learnings and, also, to work even more collaboratively with the supply chain.

‘Included within the report is a number of case studies including the Total

Culzean project which is an example of how robust planning and effective work with suppliers can help to reduce capital costs.

Jean-Luc Guiziou, managing director at Total E&P UK said: ‘Total completed the Culzean project in June 2019.

It represented four years work across both UK and international supply chains that culminated in Culzean’s safe startup in the North Sea earlier this year.

Completing Culzean on schedule and under budget was a great achievement for Total’s project team. It also highlights the improved delivery performance now available to the offshore industry across the UK Continental Shelf.’

FAR geotechnical study identifies big resources offshore The Gambia

FAR has completed geotechnical studies incorporating the Samo-1 well results and data, and has assessed significant hydrocarbon resource potential in its two blocks offshore The Gambia.

It has identified large prospects similar to the ‘shelf edge’ plays FAR has successfully drilled in Senegal and assessed prospective resources of 1.2 billion bbls across the four main prospects (gross,

unrisked, best estimate, prospective resource).

Blocks A2 and A5, covering 2682 km2 are adjacent to and on trend with FAR’s SNE oil field and located within the rapidly emerging and prolific Mauritania-Senegal-Gambia-Bissau-Conakry (MSGBC) Basin in water depths ranging from 50 to 1500 m.

The Soloo Prospect (152 mmbbl best estimate) has been mapped as an extension of the SNE Field into The Gambia.

The two main reservoir targets in Soloo were both hydrocarbon-bearing in the SNE wells. A well drilled into the Soloo Prospect may also be drilled into the shallower Bambo Prospect which has resource potential of 454 mmbbls.

The Jobo Prospect (280 mmbbl) is at a shallower level to the SNE reservoirs but has a similar trapping style and access to the same source kitchens. It has resource potential of 280 mmbbls.

FAR has also mapped a number of large leads in Block A5. The Malo FIRST

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lead (356 mmbbl best estimate) is the most prominent and extends outside the existing 3D seismic coverage. A new 3D seismic survey is planned to delineate this lead and firm it into prospect status.

FAR is also reprocessing the seismic data in A2 using the data from Samo1 and Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) processing to improve the depth model for the Soloo, Bambo (454 mmbbl), Jobo and other prospects currently being mapped in A2. This work will enable high-grading of the identified prospects and selection of a drilling candidate for 2020.

FAR managing director, Cath Norman, said: ’Through drilling the Samo-1 well, we now have a clearer data set that has been integrated back into our models which now provides a much better understanding of the geology throughout the Gambian blocks. We look forward to completing our prospect selection and drilling again next year’.

FAR has a 50% working interest and is the operator of the two licences.

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PGS releases huge amounts of data offshore Africa PGS has released data offshore Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Angola in a big push to promote the prospectivity in the continent.

PGS has completed interpretation of the Côte d’Ivoire megasurvey providing insights into the potential of the turbiditic sandstones offshore Ivory Coast.

Working in partnership with Petroci and Direction Générale des Hydrocarbures, PGS has created a fully matched and merged contiguous dataset comprising full stack GeoStreamer 3D, conventional 3D and accompanying 2D across 23,000 km2 offshore Ivory Coast.

Exploration is well established in the eastern areas of the Ivory Coast, but is now moving into the more frontier region of the western Côte d’Ivoire Basin, said PGS. The company’s Côte d’Ivoire Mega Survey enables detailed regional evaluation for the first time.

The contiguous dataset covers both existing discoveries and open blocks available for licensing and enables exploration for analogs, the identification of new prospects and detailed play analysis across the basin. It delineates sedimentary features that have been tested to the east and allows further exploration to the west.

Five key regional horizons have been tied to wells and interpreted across the dataset allowing field-scale geological under-

PGS has merged 23,000 km2 of data offshore Ivory Coast.

standing to be placed into a basin-wide context and open acreage opportunities to be assessed with confidence.

Play types confirmed by recent exploration activity in the western Ivorian basin include derisked syn-transform structures and Late Cretaceous channel and fan systems from shallow shelf to slope and deepwater.

RMS amplitudes extracted through an interval of Cretaceous turbidite deposits can clearly delineate the drilled channel systems to the east of the MegaSurvey and highlight that sediments were also sourced from the west. The interpretation of the Base Senonian horizon as part of

the MegaSurvey package reveals well developed submarine fan lobes which could be a potential reservoir.

‘MegaSurveys are regional scale, merged post-stack datasets consisting of multiple surveys that have been rebinned to a common grid and then matched to produce a phase-balanced and uniformly scaled contiguous regional volume,’ said PGS. ‘Basin-wide understanding provided

by MegaSurvey seismic data allows for reliable regional depositional models to be built both spatially and temporally through geological time, allowing for the best potential targets to be identified for future exploration.’

PGS adds well data to Africa data library PGS is adding well data including rock physics, interactive seismic AVO modelling capabilities and data atlases to its Africa MultiClient data library.

The integration of seismic with well data will help to demonstrate AVO compliance and the integrity of PGS seismic data. This will enable oil and gas companies to calibrate GeoStreamer seismic and PGS’ broadband reprocessed seismic products with conditioned well data and known production scenarios.

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‘Expanding the current rock-AVO product areas to add well data for Africa, will create a homogeneous database of interpreted well logs that make it possible to analyse seismic AVO signatures based on fluid and matrix property perturbations,’ said Peter Wijnen VP new ventures, Africa at PGS. ‘For E&P companies active in Africa, access to a homogeneous database of interpreted well logs will make it possible to analyse the seismic AVO signature based on different fluid and matrix property perturbations.’

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He added: ‘For African governments keen to promote their offshore areas, the ability to provide harmonized seismic and well data in the same library will be a valuable asset in the competition for oil and gas company interest. Interactive rock physics tools offered in addition to seismic data will improve derisking and make it easier for exploration teams to identify play analogs for prospect screening and analysis. Production teams can use them to interrogate nearfield opportunities.’

INDUSTRY NEWS

PGS releases data from offshore Angola survey PGS has released beam migrated data from its latest 3D GeoStreamer seismic survey over Angola blocks for the 2021 bid round. The imaging will unlock links between onshore and offshore presalt and postsalt plays, PGS claimed.

‘Our initial coverage of shallow blocks six to eight will allow interested E&P companies a head start on derisking prospectivity of the area ahead of bid submissions in 2021’, said Christine Roche, new ventures manager for PGS in Angola.

The PGS 2019 Angola Kwanza survey covers the highly prospective shallow-water shelf blocks of the Kwanza Basin. Past successes within the shallow-water Kwanza include the Denden, Azul, Cegonha, Muamba, Pakubalu and Mubafo Fields, with reservoirs in both the presalt and the postsalt. Since 1993, just five exploration wells have been drilled on this acreage.

Multi-sensor 3D GeoStreamer data was acquired in 2019 in cooperation with the Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG).

The survey used a triple source configuration, with 12 x 8025 m streamers operating in fan mode and multisensor GeoStreamer technology.

PGS reprocesses data offshore Nigeria PGS has reprocessed data on four key Nigeria offshore blocks OPL 314, OPL 315, OPL 321, and OPL 323 as a single multi-client 3D volume covering 2969 km2.

The first phase targets the intersection between the West Africa Transform Margin and the Niger Delta Basins. ‘Multiple large undrilled prospects can be delineated in the new dataset, and initial G&G analysis has identified clear indicators of a working petroleum system with excellent potential in this acreage,’ said Pierre Le Barbanchon, senior geoscientist new ventures Africa at PGS. PGS has applied modern broadband processing and imaging algorithms to legacy survey data. The new processing flow started from field tapes to produce Kirchhoff prestack time migration (PSTM) and prestack depth migration (PSDM) deliverables.

Broader bandwidth, better signal-to-noise ratio, and higher multiple attenuations have significantly improved the overall imaging.

Prestack time and depth migration processing flows have been run

in parallel to allow refinement of parameters and produce complementary high-quality imaging products.

PGS plans to expand the data reprocessing project into deeper waters, covering acreage with multiple undrilled prospects. Le Barbanchon said prefunding partners will be invited to a joint evaluation of the PGS Nigeria multi-client library, to identify features of interest to target in the reprocessing.

Oil rig in Gulf of Guinea where PGS is active.

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Exploration round-up PGNiG has found oil after drilling two wells 5 km south of the Skarv facility in the Norwegian Sea. The discovery well 6507/5-9 S encountered a total oil and gas column of about 85 metres in the Fangst and Båt groups. Appraisal well 6507/5-9 A encountered a total oil and gas column of

licence PL 827S and will test the ‘Gabriel’ prospect. The well is being drilled to a water depth of 367 m.

Iran has discovered a new oil field in the southwest of the country that could boost its reserves by a third. The National Iranian Oil Company said the oil field

Refinery in Iran.

about 65 m in the Fangst and Båt groups.

Estimates place the size of the discovery between 3 and 6 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalents. Extensive data acquisition has been carried out.

Equinor has won consent to drill exploration well 35/10-5 in the North Sea. The well will be drilled in production

contained 53 billion barrels of reserves stretching over 2400 km2 in the oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Equinor has discovered oil and gas in exploration well Echino South, located by the Fram field in the North Sea. Recoverable resources are estimated to be between 38 and 100 million barrels of oil equivalent. The primary exploration

target was to prove petroleum in the upper Jurassic reservoir of the Oxfordian age (Sognefjord formation).

ConocoPhillips has found oil after drilling a wildcat well 15 km northwest of the Balder field in the central part of the North Sea. Proving petroleum in Upper Jurassic reservoir rocks (Intra-Draupne and Heather Formation sandstones, respectively), the well encountered two separate gas/condensate and oil-bearing intervals, with sandy layers in the Draupne Formation totalling about 25 m. Estimates place the size of the discovery between 1 and 10 million standard cubic metres (Sm3) of recoverable oil equivalent.

Wintershall Dea has won consent to drill two wells in the Norwegian Sea in production licence PL 894 and will test the Balderbra and Gullstjerne prospects in water depths of 1241 metres and 1161 metres.

CNOOC’s WZ 6-12 M1 exploration well, Beibu Gulf, offshore China, has been drilled to the target depth of 2025 mMD. Indications of oil were observed in the T30A, T31L, T31C and T32L sands.

Electric logging and MDT pressure data supports oil columns in each of these sands.

The Falkland Islands Government has extended the PL032 Discovery Area licence (operated by Premier Oil until 1 May 2021, with no additional licence commitments. The licence was previously due to expire on 15 April 2020.

TGS extends Oklahoma seismic database TGS has completed acquisition of the Kingfisher 3D land survey to add to its Oklahoma database.

The 714 km2 Kingfisher 3D, located on the east flank of the Anadarko Basin in Kingfisher and Logan Counties, Oklahoma, extends TGS’s contiguous 3D data coverage in the SCOOP and STACK to more than 10,000 kilometers.

Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, said that exploration and production companies will now have a more comprehensive

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onshore seismic data set in this region for optimal well positioning and lateral drilling hazard mitigation.

‘As we expand onshore seismic activities, the integration of seismic, well data, basin modelling and interpretation further provides valuable insights in this prolific region.’

‘This area in the Anadarko Basin is characterized by a strong structural overprint with faulting at the Mississippian and deeper levels. Utilizing its modern land

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imaging technology, TGS is reprocessing the data in order to offer a full suite of reservoir products that include seismic attributes and advanced simultaneous inversion volumes. The Kingfisher 3D is complemented by TGS’ geologic products which include a proprietary interpreted basin stratigraphic model that is derived from an extensive library of high-quality well data in the Anadarko basin, comprising 112,000 LAS contributing to the 302,000 LAS for the entire Mid-Con area.’

ION launches new 3D survey in Argentina ION Geophysical has announced a new 3D multi-client programme in Argentina’s unconventional Neuquén Basin that will nearly triple the size of its Vaca Muerta programme to 25,000 km2.

The first phase of the programme is complete with 25 seamlessly merged 3D data sets comprising a single 9000 km2 depth volume. The second phase of the programme is in progress and will merge an additional 60+ surveys and

incorporating 150+ wells. Future interpretation studies derived from this information will provide the framework for a basin-wide understanding of all major intervals in addition to the Vaca Muerta Formation.

‘Oil and gas companies are investing billions of dollars to explore and develop this world-class unconventional resource,’ said Joe Gagliardi, senior vice-president of ION’s Ventures group.

He added: ‘Many operators are active in the area and our project underwriters agree that a large-scale programme will improve understanding of the basin architecture as a whole, and how the Vaca Muerta fits into the larger exploration picture.’

The Neuquén Basin is one of the most prospective unconventional plays in the world, which is estimated to hold 16 billion barrels of recoverable hydrocarbons.

Mining sector to drive growth in geophysical services market

The global geophysical services market is forecast to be worth $16.2 billion by 2024, according to a new report from Researchandmarkets.com.

The demand for geophysical services for mineral extraction is expected to

increase on account of the environmental regulations imposed by governments of several countries, says the report.

The seismic technology segment is projected to register the highest growth during forecast period with land-based

mining surveys playing a representing a bigger slice of the market.

‘The minerals and mining segment is expected to hold a substantial market share during the forecast period on account of increasing investments in the mining industry,’ says the report.

Regionally, the geophysical services market will be strongest in the North America region followed by Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and South America.

Major companies are developing advanced technologies in order to stay competitive in the market, says the report.

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South Sudan plans to 28/10/2019 offer 14 oil10:59 blocks to exploration companies in a licensing

INDUSTRY NEWS

TGS starts 3D survey in Canada TGS has started its Midnight 3D onshore seismic survey in the Inga/ Fireweed area of British Columbia in Canada.

The survey merges into TGS’ existing onshore Canadian seismic data coverage in the condensate region of the Montney basin and straddles a large area where drilling activity is incentivized by deepwell royalty credit.

When completed and processed by TGS, the Midnight 3D project will result in 168 km2 of high-quality 3D seismic data, increasing TGS’s contiguous Montney 3D seismic coverage to more than 1500 km2.

A full suite of AVO-compliant reservoir characterization products, in addition to a suite of pre-stack depth-migrated deliverables, will be available in early

2020. The Midnight 3D survey is located in the heart of the highly prospective, liquids-rich Montney acreage, with surrounding wells producing as much as 60-80% liquids and boasting some of the best, single-well economics in North America. The TGS data library in this basin also includes interpretive geological products derived from our extensive library of well data.

Shell says that the planet will have to be decarbonized A senior executive at Shell said last month that the global energy system would have to be decarbonized.

Ed Daniels, head of strategy at Shell, told the recent Web Summit technology conference in Lisbon: ‘I feel an immense amount of responsibility about what our company, along with governments and society has to do. I’m simultaneously energized and frightened by the scale of the challenge.’

Daniels added that he thinks there is going to be a role for hydrocarbons ‘while we work out how to decarbonize the energy system’.

‘There will be a role for oil and gas, albeit we have to come up with the technologies that offset, I think, some of those emissions, whether that’s carbon capture and storage or

its nature-based solutions, growing trees etc.

‘If you look at the number of electric vehicles on the roads, you can imagine how we can decarbonize car transportation, or even home heating by more use

of electricity,’ Daniels added. ‘There are a number of sectors — aviation, shipping, chemicals manufacture — where at the moment, we are struggling to exactly understand how we will decarbonize those things over the coming decades.’

Big oil results round-up BP has reported underlying replacement cost profit of $2.3 billion for the third quarter, compared to $3.8 billion a year earlier. The result was impacted by significantly lower upstream earnings, resulting from lower prices, maintenance and weather impacts.

Royal Dutch Shell’s third quarter net income was $4.77 billion, down from $5.62 billion in the third quarter of 2018.

Equinor has reported third quarter earnings of $2.59 billion and $1.08 bil32

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lion after tax in the third quarter of 2019.

However, the compan reported a net loss of -$1.11 billion after net impairments of $2.79 billion mainly due to ‘more cautious price assumptions’.

Chevron reported third quarter net income of $2.6 billion compared to $4 billion in the third quarter of 2018.

Eni reported third quarter net profit of $523 million.

CNOOC has reported total net production of 124.8 million bar-

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rels of oil equivalent in Q3, representing an increase of 9.7% year on year.

Schlumberger reported third quarter net loss of -$11.4 billion on revenues of $8.5 billion. Operating income of $1.1 billion rose 13% sequentially.

Total Oil reported third quarter net income of $2.8 billion, 29% down on the third quarter of 2018.

ExxonMobil reported third quarter earnings of $3.2 billion.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Seabed Gesolutions wins $50 million OBN contract offshore Brazil Seabed Geosolutions, a joint venture between Fugro and CGG, has won a $50 million contract to provide a 3D ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in 2000 m of water in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil.

The 410 km2 survey will be performed for a prominent energy company using Seabed Geosolutions’ proprietary Manta OBN technology and remotely operated vehicles. The four-component (4C) project will begin in the second quarter of

BRIEFS South Sudan plans to offer 14 oil blocks to exploration companies in a licensing round by the first quarter 2020, switching from its previous method of direct negotiations with explorers.

2020 and will take around four months to complete.

Stephan Midenet, CEO of Seabed Geosolutions, said: ‘We are excited to work with a pioneer in ocean-bottom technologies to deploy our new Manta technology, which has been recently and successfully used offshore Brazil for Petrobras on the Buzios field to deliver exceptional data quality. The survey data, which will be used to inform the area’s subsurface, will

Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest integrated oil and gas company, wholly owned by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has announced its intention to proceed with an initial public offering on the Main Market of Tadawul.

Magseis Fairfield has lowered its fullyear revenue estimate to $455-465 million and full-year EBITDA estimate to $45-55 million because of ‘a delay in a number of projects’. The company also reported lower margins and an ‘excessive cost level given the current activity level and capacity utilization’.

Total launches carbon neutrality fund Total has launched a $400 million fund to foster carbon neutrality. Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures (TCNV) will support start-ups that develop innovative technologies and solutions which help companies to reduce their energy consumption or the carbon intensity of their activities.

‘The Total Carbon Neutrality Ventures fund will fully support Total’s ambition to become the responsible energy major. It will allow us to expand the reach of our low carbon businesses beyond our own borders,’ said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total. ‘Over five years, the

The state of Alaska will hold an oil and gas lease sale bid opening for 350 tracts in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) on 11 December 2019.

Some 3.98 million acres will available for leasing.

$400 million fund will invest in start-ups whose technologies or innovative solutions could contribute to carbon neutrality’.

TCNV will invest globally, with teams based in Europe and the US, focusing on areas such as smart energy, energy storage, smart mobility, bioplastics and recycling.

The fund builds on Total Ventures’ existing portfolio of 35 global start-ups that directly and indirectly contribute to carbon neutrality. That portfolio includes Solidia, Sunfire, Scoop, Shyft Power Solutions, Ionic Materials, MTPV, AutoGrid, Stem and OnTruck.

SeaBird Exploration has won a contract for the exclusive provision of source vessel services for an OBN survey in the Eastern Hemisphere. The survey is expected to start in Q1 2020, with an approximate duration of 60-90 days.

EMGS has signed an $8 million multi-client contract with an undisclosed customer. The customer will license data from EMGS’ existing EM multi-client library in Norway.The contract also includes user licenses from the company’s proprietary EMU and SBLwiz software, and prepayment for consulting services.

Latest Ireland airborne data is released The Geological Survey of Ireland (GSI) has released new airborne multi-parameter data that Sander Geophysics (SGL) acquired over the Republic of Ireland in the spring of 2019.

The processed data comprises 40,000 line km of high-resolution four frequency SGFEM electromagnetic data, along with radiometric and magnetic data as part of GSI’s continuing Tellus Programme.

The airborne data will help with geological mapping and mineral exploration and will assist with environmental management. SGL will return to Ireland in 2020 to complete the next phase of the project.

Ontario-based SGL has been providing geophysical services to the GSI on the Tellus programme for several years.

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The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and environmental Authority of Australia (Nopsema) has asked Equinor to resubmit its environment plan for proposed drilling in the Great Australian Bight.

Equinor must provide further information relating to consultation, source control, and oil spill risk.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Shale producers predict falling production growth in US shale fields The days of relentless production growth from US shale oil fields are ending, according to industry pioneers Scott Sheffield and Mark Papa.

Pioneer Natural Resources chief executive officer Scott Sheffield said that across the American shale industry output growth will slow next year, providing a boost for crude prices through the early 2020s.

‘I don’t think OPEC has to worry that much more about US shale growth long term,’ Sheffield said, adding that he’s ‘definitely becoming more optimistic that we’re probably at the bottom end of the cycle regarding oil prices.’

Occidental, Apache, Cimarex Energy Co. and Pioneer are signalling plans to trim budgets in shale exploration, according to reports.

Mark Papa, who runs Centennial Resource Development Inc, said the slowdown will be more dramatic than he originally predicted. Papa downgraded his 2020 shale growth forecast to 400,000 barrels a day from the

700,000 estimate he made in early September.

‘This is likely not just a 2020 event,’ Papa said. ‘I believe US shale production on a year-over-year growth basis will be considerably less powerful in 2021 and later years than most people currently expect.’

Sheffield sees about 700,000 barrels a day being added next year while the Energy Information Administration predicts that next year’s daily production will expand by 910,000 barrels.

Papa said that many producers have drilled their best locations and are now turning to lower-quality sites.

Some also have been drilling wells too close together, resulting in a loss of overall performance.

However, downgrades are counterpointed by plans from Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp to ramp up shale exploration in the Permian Basin in Texas/New Mexico. Each plan to produce about one million barrels a day from the basin by the early 2020s.

TGS shoots 3D survey offshore Argentina TGS has launched a new 3D multi-client project offshore Argentina.

The Malvinas 3D survey will cover approx. 7300 km2 of the highly prospective Malvinas Basin, which

TGS is acquiring 7300 km2 of data.

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attracted interest during Argentina Round 1 earlier this year.

The survey will employ one Shearwater vessel, with operations set to commence in Q4 2019 and run until Q2 2020. Initial products will be available in early 2021, with final products slated for H2 2021.

Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, said, ‘The Malvinas MC3D survey clearly supports TGS’ growth initiative in the South Atlantic and will build on the great momentum seen by the previous Spectrum 2D campaign in helping to open up this frontier area for further exploration.’

DECEMBER

2019

Searcher completes survey offshore Papua New Guinea

The Northern Basin has been imaged in detail.

Searcher Seismic has completed its Northern Basins Prospectivity Study in Papua New Guinea.

The company, with partner Discover Geoscience, has compiled the Northern Basins Prospectivity Study after its acquisition of the Solomon Sea Broadband Non-Exclusive 2D seismic survey in 2017.

The study offers the industry a detailed understanding of the basins and hydrocarbon potential of the region, with extensive coverage of the Cape Vogel, Bougainville and New Ireland Basins.

The Northern Basins Prospectivity Study contains an assessment of the sequence stratigraphic framework, with chronostratigraphy unified with that from Searcher’s Gulf of Papua prospectivity study. It also incorporates tectonostratigraphic elements, palaeogeography, gravity and magnetic interpretation, petroleum system analysis, regional hydrocarbon modelling and finally a summary of play concepts.

Simon Crellin, sales director for Searcher Seismic, said: ‘For the first time, modern seismic data has unveiled detailed imaging of the subsurface within the Northern Basins and this study compliments this seismic data by providing a comprehensive geological understanding of the region, with several plays types identified.

‘The potential for this region is significant, with the study providing new light on basins that previously had very little data and analysis undertaken to date.’

Special Topic

DATA PROCESSING

Geoscientists are continuously reinventing processing or reprocessing of seismic data in order to extract more information about the earth’s substructure.

Coupled with this ingenuity, are rapid developments in computing power, aiding geoscientists’ application of complex algorithms, and facilitation of integration with other data types such as well logs and potential method information.

It has never been more needed, because oil explorers are demanding more and better quality seismic data for their money as they push into new frontiers in ever deep waters and vast subsalt fields.

Samuel Brown et al describe the process of optimizing data throughput to reduce turnaround and enable both full automation and interactivity of geophysical tasks in an architecture agnostic environment. They demonstrate a platform that can seamlessly handle any data, regardless of its dimensionality or the system architecture on which it is applied.

Michael S. Zhdanov et al introduce a robust synthetic aperture (RSA) method, which is tailored for processing and imaging of marine towed streamer electromagnetic data with the low-frequency range between 0.1 and 20 Hz.

Tim Seher et al show two examples from the Black Sea and the Norwegian Sea where inverse Q filtering was key to identifying possible hydrocarbon systems.

Fernando Castellanos et al discuss the development of an automated microseismic processing workflow for perforation shot detection and optimal velocity model inversion using particle swarm optimization.

David Langton et al present the long-anticipated move to use the elastic anisotropic reverse time migration as the leading prestack depth migration algorithm.

Submit an article

Special Topic overview January

Land Seismic

First Break Special Topics are covered by a mix of original articles dealing with case studies and the latest technology. Contributions to a Special Topic in First Break can be sent directly to the editorial office (firstbreak@eage.org). Submissions will be considered for publication by the editor.

February

Reservoir Monitoring

March

Petroleum Geology

April

Passive Seismic & Unconventionals

May

Modelling/Interpretation

June

Embracing Change - Creativity For The Future

It is also possible to submit a Technical Article to First Break. Technical Articles are subject to a peer review process and should be submitted ia EAGE’s ScholarOne website: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/fb

July

Energy Transition

August

Near Surface Geoscience

September

Machine Learning

October

Reservoir Geoscience and Engineering

November

Marine Seismic & EM

December

Data Processing

You can find the First Break author guidelines online at www.firstbreak.org/guidelines.

More Special Topics may be added during the course of the year.

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Clearly Better Acquisition.

Isometrix multi-component streamer technology enables true 3D deghosting and superior broadband data, by measuring the three dimensional wavefield over the full seismic bandwidth.

Revealing possibilities

shearwatergeo.com

CALENDAR

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 6 - 9 APRIL

EAGE Saint Petersburg 2020 Geosciences: Converting Knowledge into Resources

www.eage.org Saint Petersburg, Russia

December 2019 2-4 Dec

2 nd EAGE-VPI Conference on Reservoir Geoscience www.eage.org

Hanoi

Vietnam

2-4 Dec

First EAGE Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Workshop www.eage.org

Toulouse

France

5-6 Dec

First EAGE Workshop on Pre-Salt Reservoir www.eage.org

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

6-7 Dec

EAGE GeoHack - A Prelude to the EAGE Subsurface Intelligence Workshop www.eage.org

Manama

Bahrain

9-10 Dec

EAGE Subsurface Intelligence Workshop - View event www.eage.org

Manama

Bahrain

10-12 Dec

SEG | EAGE Workshop on "Geophysical Aspects of Smart Cities" www.eage.org

Singapore

Singapore

16-17 Dec

First EAGE/AAPG E&P HR Forum - The Challenge for Digital Talent www.eage.org

Dhaharan

Saudi Arabia

Dhahran

Saudi Arabia

January 2020 13-15 Jan

IPTC 2020

EAGE Events

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Non-EAGE Events

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CALENDAR

February 2020 10-12 Feb

Fifth EAGE Workshop on Rock Physics www.eage.org

Milan

Italy

11-13 Feb

Fourth EAGE Naturally Fractured Reservoir Workshop www.eage.org

Ras Al Khaimah

United Arab Emirates

17-18 Feb

EAGE Workshop on The Interpretation of Attributes to Impact Decision Making www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

24-26 Feb

SPE/EAGE Reservoir Lifecycle Workshop www.eage.org

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

25-27 Feb

1st AAPG/EAGE Papua New Guinea Petroleum Geoscience Conference & Exhibition www.eage.org

Port Moresby

Papua New Guinea

2-8 Mar

36th International Geological Congress

New Delhi

India

9-11 Mar

First EAGE Workshop on Fibre Optics www.eage.org

Amsterdam

The Netherlands

16-19 Mar

GEO 2020

Manama

Bahrain

22-24 Mar

EAGE Seabed Seismic Today: from Acquisition to Application www.eage.org

Manama

Bahrain

23-26 Mar

Eighth EAGE Workshop on Passive Seismic www.eage.org

Prague

Czech Republic

29 Mar 2 Apr

SAGEEP 2020 www.sageep.org

Denver

United States

30 Mar 1 Apr

Fifth EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum www.eage.org

Cape Town

South Africa

6-8 Apr

EAGE Workshop on Quantifying Uncertainty in Depth Imaging www.eage.org

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

6-9 Apr

EAGE Saint Petersburg 2020 Geosciences: Converting Knowledge into Resources www.eage.org

Saint Petersburg

Russia

6-9 Apr

First EAGE Digitalization Conference and Exhibition www.eage.org

Vienna

Austria

13-15 Apr

Fifth EAGE Exploration Workshop www.eage.org

TBC

TBC

19-21 Apr

EAGE Seabed Seismic Today: from Acquisition to Application www.eage.org

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

20-22 Apr

3 rd Asia Pacific Meeting on Near Surface Geoscience & Engineering www.eage.org

Chiang Mai

Thailand

GISTAM 2020 6th International Conference on Geographical Information Systems Theory, Applications and Management www.gistam.org

Prague

Czech Republic

March 2020

April 2020

May 2020 7-9 May

EAGE Events

Non-EAGE Events

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We invite all applied mathematicians and geoscientists to contribute to the technical programme, to share results, experiences and new ideas during the ECMOR conference.

14 -17 S E P TE M B E R 2020 I E D I N B U RG H , U N ITE D K I N G D O M

Physical Modelling

Reservoir Modelling

Computational Methods

Workflows and Computing

SUBMIT YOUR ABSTR ACT! D E AD LI N E 1 FE B RUARY 2020 W W W. ECMOR .ORG

# ECMOR2020

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