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Westerngeco News

01 Mar 2023

PXGEO Names Tony Bowman CEO

(Photo: PXGEO)

Offshore seismic survey firm PXGEO announced it has appointed Tony Bowman as chief executive officer, effective April 3, 2023.Bowman joins PXGEO from an executive career at Schlumberger. During his almost 30-year tenure, he held a number of senior roles across multiple geographical locations, including president, WesternGeco as well as president, Schlumberger Information Solutions.Bowman’s appointment follows the departure of CEO Duncan Eley, who has decided to resign and leave PXGEO.

22 Jul 2021

TGS, PGS, WesternGeco in 6,400 sq km Seismic Survey Offshore Malaysia

Credit: PGS

Offshore seismic data and services trio TGS, PGS, and Schlumberger's WesternGeco, have secured pre-funding for a 6,400 square kilometer multi-client 3D survey starting in October in the Sarawak Basin, offshore Malaysia.The survey is the first phase of a multi-year contract awarded by the Malaysian national oil firm Petronas in 2020 through competitive bidding to acquire and process up to 105,000 square kilometers of multi-client 3D data over a 5-year period in the Basin. The first…

12 Feb 2020

Schlumberger Intros Egypt Upstream Gateway

The Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum and Schlumberger introduce the Egypt Upstream Gateway, a unique and innovative national project for digitizing subsurface information and delivering a digital subsurface platform to ensure Egypt's subsurface data is kept evergreen.The Egypt Upstream Gateway will also be a platform to promote Egypt's exploration and production potential worldwide.The Egypt Upstream Gateway will leverage the GAIA digital subsurface platform and provide additional value-added solutions—enabled by digital technology and domain expertise—using the DELFI E&P cognitive environment capabilities and technologies."Leveraging…

18 Nov 2018

Shearwater Completes Acquisition of Schlumberger's Seismic Fleet

Norway-based provider of marine geophysical services Shearwater GeoServices Holding  announced the completion of the acquisition of the marine seismic acquisition assets and operations of WesternGeco, the geophysical services product line of Schlumberger.The owner of world’s largest fleet of high-end seismic vessels said in a release that the transaction was completed following receipt of relevant regulatory approvals and satisfaction of customary closing conditions.“We are now an industry-leading full-range geophysical services company with a solid financial and strategic platform. We are eager to move ahead as one strong combined business with global reach…

22 Aug 2018

Shearwater to Buy Schlumberger’s Seismic Business

Norwegian marine geophysical services company Shearwater GeoServices Holding AS has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the marine seismic acquisition assets and operations of Schlumberger’s geophysical services product line, WesternGeco.The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.Houston based Schlumberger will receive cash consideration based on an enterprise value of $600 million plus a 15 percent post-closing equity interest in Shearwater. For a limited period, Schlumberger  will be entitled to payments under an earn-out agreement linked to future vessel usage over and above specific thresholds.

22 Jun 2018

Schlumberger Wins in US Supreme Court on Patent Damages

© sframe / Adobe Stock

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that companies can recover profits lost because of the unauthorized use of their patented technology abroad in a victory for Schlumberger NV, the world's largest oilfield services provider.The 7-2 decision overturned a lower court's ruling that had enforced limits on applying U.S. patent law overseas and reduced by $93.4 million the damages sum that rival ION Geophysical Corp had to pay for infringing Schlumberger technology that helps find oil and gas beneath the ocean floor.

30 Jan 2018

Mexico's Oil Reform a Boon for Hard-hit Oil Service, Seismic Firms

© flyingrussian / Adobe Stock

Oil service and mapping firms still emerging from an industry recession have received a boost from about $800 million of data sales to energy firms considering bidding for Mexican oil and gas blocks. Mexico will on Wednesday hold its most important auction since a 2013 reform ended the 75-year monopoly on the energy sector held by state-run oil firm Pemex. The government of President Enrique Pena Nieto hopes the deepwater sale will attract tens of billions of dollars of investment to turnaround a slump in the country's oil output. Seven previous auctions drew investment pledges of $61 billion.

24 Feb 2017

TGS, Schlumberger reimaging central GOM

TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company (TGS) and Schlumberger today announced a new multi- and wide-azimuth (M-WAZ) multiclient reimaging program in the highly prospective Central U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Final results are expected in early 2018, ahead of a period when substantial block turnover in the area is anticipated. The new Fusion M-WAZ reimaging program comprises data covering more than 1,000 Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) blocks (~23,000 km2) from 3D WAZ programs previously acquired by TGS and Schlumberger with the WesternGeco Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic system between 2008 and 2012. This large reimaging program will process data from the Mississippi Canyon…

04 Aug 2016

Dual Coil Shooting Full-Azimuth Multiclient Acquisition in GoM

TGS and Schlumberger today announce commencement of the Dual Coil Shooting* multi-vessel full-azimuth acquisition Revolution XII and XIII surveys in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The surveys will cover approximately 7,150 km2 (306 blocks) in the Green Canyon, Atwater Valley and Ewing Bank protraction areas of the Central Gulf of Mexico. The Revolution XIl and XIII surveys will be acquired using the Schlumberger WesternGeco Q-Marine* point-receiver marine seismic system combined with the proprietary multivessel, Dual Coil Shooting acquisition technique, which will provide broadband, long-offset, full-azimuth data. This combination of leading-edge technology and technique will improve illumination and imaging of the sub-salt and other complex geologic features in this highly active region.

01 Apr 2016

Schlumberger Led Consortium Wins Malaysia Offshore Survey

Malaysia has opened an area of its offshore waters to the multi-client seismic model for the first time. The move is a result of a new initiative by Petronas to stimulate offshore E&P investment activity. “A consortium comprising of PGS, TGS and Schlumberger WesternGeco, the industry’s three largest multi-client companies, have successfully won the tender for the rights to undertake a multi-client seismic program offshore Sabah,” TGS,  a Norwegian seismic company said. Offshore Sabah sits in an active fold-and-thrust province that hosts a number of proven hydrocarbon accumulations. An extension of the Brunei Baram Delta play, the primary exploration target has been Miocene deltaics with some younger Pliocene.

22 Dec 2015

Schlumberger, Statoil Execute Multiclient WAZ Survey in Campeche Basin

Schlumberger announced today that Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC has signed an agreement to license a large part of the WesternGeco Campeche wide-azimuth (WAZ) deepwater multiclient seismic survey in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The license also includes collaboration with WesternGeco in the seismic processing phase. “We are pleased to have the opportunity to collaborate with Statoil in this breakthrough project, which is the first WAZ multiclient broadband survey in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Maurice Nessim, president, WesternGeco. A fleet of eight vessels is conducting the survey in the Bay of Campeche for the three-year project. The project follows the Mexican government opening licensing rounds to non-government companies for the first time.

18 Nov 2015

Ulstein’s X-BOW Turns 10

subsea vessel  Island Performer (Photo: Ulstein)

While new designs often grab headlines, mature designs that have enjoyed success are perhaps better indicators of true progress in marine technology. When the Ultstein X-Bow made its debut 10 years ago, some scoffed at the unusual design characteristics. They laugh no more, as the Ultstein X-Bow hull line design turns 10. Now in its tenth year, the 100th X-BOW shipbuilding contract was signed, and the X-BOW’s derivative, the X-STERN – a similar solution for the ship’s stern – has been contracted on its first two vessels.

12 Jul 2015

U.S. Court Finds WesternGeco Patents Valid

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed the 2014 judgment that ION Geophysical Corp. infringed four seminal WesternGeco LLP patents covering streamer steering technology for marine seismic surveys, and that WesternGeco is the rightful owner of the pioneering technology. In 2009, WesternGeco filed suit for patent infringement against ION's DigiFIN streamer steering system in U.S. federal court in Houston, Texas. ION was found to infringe one patent on summary judgment, and a 2012 jury found that ION infringed three more WesternGeco patents and rejected all of ION's invalidity arguments. The trial court affirmed the jury's verdict, awarded WesternGeco supplemental damages and permanently enjoined ION from continuing to infringe with the DigiFIN system.

01 Jun 2015

Ulstein’s X-BOW Turns 10

Subsea vessel Island Performer (Photo: Ulstein)

When times are tough, it is still possible to nurture and grow good ideas, says Ulstein, an provider of ship design, shipbuilding and system solutions for ships. That’s the story behind the ULSTEIN X-BOW hull line design, which upon its introduction 10 years ago turned the image of the ship’s bow upside down. Now in its 10th year, the 100th X-BOW shipbuilding contract was signed, and the X-BOW’s derivative, the X-STERN – a similar solution for the ship’s stern – has been contracted on its first two vessels.

06 Dec 2014

Special Vessels “Built by Flensburger”

The first offshore seismic vessel, MV Amazon Conqueror,  for the owner WesternGeco, during launching in June 2014

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, FSG, was founded in 1872 by a group of five local ship owners who previously had all their steamboats built in England as most German ship owners did in the 19th century. The first ship, the iron tall ship Doris Brodersen, was delivered to one of the founding partners in 1875. The cargo steamer Septima was commissioned a year later. In 1892 a floating dock, with a capacity of 2,300 tons has been built. At the turn of the year 1900, more than 2c000 employees worked at FSG.

03 Dec 2014

Schlumberger to Take $1 bln Restructuring Charge in Fourth Quarter

Schlumberger Ltd, the world's No.1 oilfield services provider, said it would take a $1 billion charge related to jobs cuts and the writedown of some seismic vessels as it trims its operations in response to slumping oil prices. The company expects a pretax charge of $200 million in the fourth quarter ending December related to the job cuts, it said at Cowen and Company's energy conference on Tuesday. Schlumberger on Tuesday had also said the quarter's results would also include a $800 million charge to write down the value of six vessels and other WesternGeco assets. The company did not say how many or in which of its businesses it would cut jobs.

02 Dec 2014

Schlumberger Cuts Seismic Fleet to Lower Costs

Schlumberger Ltd, the world's No.1 oilfield services provider, said it was reducing the size of its marine seismic fleet to lower costs as it expects customers to cut exploration spending. Schlumberger said it would take a charge of $800 million to write down the value of six vessels and other WesternGeco assets in the fourth quarter ending December. Oil and gas producers, Schlumberger's customers, have scaled back spending plans due to a 40 percent fall in oil prices over the past six months. Analysts expect exploration spending, in particular, to be hit hard as oil and gas producers are unlikely to invest in new fields as long as prices remain low. Schlumberger's fleet of vessels come with seismic equipment that help exploration companies survey potential oilfields.

02 Oct 2014

Seismic Cooperation in Barents Sea Gives New Perspectives

Statoil and its partners have completed their joint seismic acquisition project in the south-eastern Barents Sea. New forms of cooperation have ensured resource-efficient acquisition. “We are pleased to have found a form of cooperation that has ensured good quality data sets and low acquisition costs. This warrants rethinking and exploring new business approaches and forms of cooperation in order to reduce costs and work more efficiently also elsewhere,” says Jan Helgesen, Statoil’s head of geophysical operations. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy last year encouraged the oil industry to jointly conduct resource-efficient 3D seismic acquisition in the south-eastern Barents Sea.

26 Sep 2014

German Shipbuilder FSG Taken Over by Siem Industries

The German Shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) informs that it has a new owner: the Norwegian controlled Siem Industries will take over command of the shipyard, including all its employees. Peter Sierk and Frank Bywater, the two Managing Directors of FSG, welcome these re- cent developments. To them it is a necessary and just step in the right direction. “We are very glad about the new perspectives that open up, as a consequence of this decision. We welcome Siem Industries on board: This time not as a client, but as the new and rightful owner of the FSG. With the take-over, Sierk and Bywater expect the FSG to get further established and to hold a stronger position on the offshore market: “Siem Industries is a successful…

09 Sep 2014

Spotlight on German Shipbuilding

The German shipbuilding industry has a world market share of around one percent. This is certainly in another league compared to China, South Korea and Japan, which divide the global shipbuilding pie of containerships, bulk carriers and tankers among themselves. But the German shipyards are on top in Europe. Here, around 90,000 people in the shipbuilding and supply industry are employed, and the German maritime cluster remains in strategic and symbolic importance. Aside from the Norwegians…

13 Jun 2014

German Shipbuilder FSG Launch Second Seismic Vessel

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) says it has launched a second offshore seismic survey ship 'Amazon Warrior' for owners WesternGeco. FSG explains that the newbuilds Amazon Warrior and Amazon Conqueror are seismic ships are 127 metres long and 28 metres in breadth and the largest in the owner’s fleet. As far as efficiency, comfort, reliability and durability are concerned, they meet the highest of demands and guarantee safe operation anywhere on the planet, including the Polar regions. Ships of this type may spend months, even years, at sea without a break, which explains why the owners place much value on accommodation and onboard working areas.

20 May 2013

Gibraltar's Gibdock Refits 3D Seismic Ship

WG Cook at Gibdock: Photo credit Gibdock

Gibdock completes a refit of the 12-streamer 3D seismic vessel 'WG Cook' for WesternGeco. WG Cook is one of six 12-streamer 3D seismic ships delivered to the owner in 2010. The 19-day project was completed on time and with no serious QHSE incidents in preparation for WG Cook’s deployment offshore Canada for a seismic survey. “The project was awarded on a competitive tender basis, while the location of the yard is also favourable for this project,” says Mick Richardson, WesternGeco Fleet Technical Manager.

20 May 2013

Gibdock Refits WesternGeco Seismic Vessel

WG Cook in for refit at Gibdock

Gibdock completed a refit of the seismic vessel WG Cook for WesternGeco. WG Cook is one of six 12-streamer 3D seismic ships delivered to the owner in 2010. The 19-day project was completed on time and with no serious QHSE incidents in preparation for WG Cook’s deployment offshore Canada for a seismic survey. Gibdock allocated its largest drydock to the project, allowing a variety of yard equipment to be deployed simultaneously. The dock’s heavy lifting capability was also a factor, with one of its three cranes being occupied continuously by a 5m exhaust extension and main mast modifications.