Contracts worth a combined NOK 300 million have been awarded by Statoil for seismic surveys this summer to help optimise output from producing fields off Norway.
About NOK 125 million of the total has gone to WesternGeco in Stavanger, with France’s Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG) getting work for roughly NOK 100 million.
And Petroleum Geo-Services in Oslo has been awarded contracts adding up to approximately NOK 85 million.
The first two of these contractors will be providing “towed” seismic, with hydrophones trailed behind the survey vessel on cables to register data from the sub-surface.
WesternGeco will gather seismic data around the Heidrun and Norne fields in the Norwegian Sea, and the Visund field in the North Sea.
CGG's contracts cover the Sleipner area and Statfjord North field in the North Sea, and the Ellida oil discovery in the Norwegian Sea.
PGS is due to supply seabed seismic on the Snorre field and around the Kvitebjørn field which is under development in the North Sea. This entails using listening devices which sit on the sea bottom and record the geophysical data.
“These surveys are part of our plans to optimise existing fields,” explains Ole Edvard Næss, discipline leader for seismic data gathering.
“We have great faith in Norway’s mature fields, and are accordingly shooting new lines over them to chart possible changes which could improve recovery.”
The goal of the survey programme is to identify where Statoil should drill to tap additional reserves, and to map existing discoveries in order to ensure profitable tail production.