Ocean Bottom Seismic News

Marine seismic survey services specialist Shearwater GeoServices is set to introduce its first dual ROV seismic vessel, which the company says will be equipped with a broad scope of operational capabilities. "Designed to deploy ocean bottom nodes in both deep and shallow water, the vessel will also be able to provide high-quality source for surveys and conduct towed streamer surveys," Shearwater said.The dual ROV vessel, under Shearwater ownership and management, is expected to be available in the second quarter of 2023 following a conversion of the SW Tasman multipurpose vessel.

Seabed Geosolutions, the provider of comprehensive ocean bottom seismic (OBS) solutions to the global oil and gas industry, has signed a contract to sell the entirety of its shallow water ocean bottom cable (OBC) recording equipment.The joint venture between Fugro and CGG said that the equipment was used on a recently completed project for Abu Dhabi National Oil Company in the United Arab Emirates. The sale fetched around  US$ 10 million.Stephan Midenet, CEO of Seabed Geosolutions said: "The sale of our last cable-based system completes the transformation of Seabed Geosolutions into a pure ocean bottom node (OBN) company."He added: "We are now largely focused around our Manta suite of technologies…

ION Geophysical and iSEISMIC have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate on seabed acquisition technologies.iSEISMIC, an ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition specialist,  plans to utilize the full suite of ION’s next generation 4Sea ocean bottom acquisition and imaging technology to deliver a step-change in the safety, efficiency, quality and turnaround time of seabed surveys. According to a press statement from ION, the provider of acquisition equipment, software, planning and seismic processing services, and seismic data libraries to the global oil & gas industry: "This agreement will enable ION to commercialize its…

Norway-based subsea operations specialist Swire Seabed and compatriot provider of comprehensive ocean bottom seismic (OBS) solutions to the global oil and gas industry Seabed Solutions have signed an exclusive cooperation agreement for the provision of subsea dredging services worldwide.A joint press release said that the expertise of the two companies is complementary, with Swire Seabed providing the Seabed Excavator, a state-of-the-art tracked subsea dredging vehicle with numerous capabilities, and Seabed Solutions years of dredging competence and experience.The Seabed Excavator system is the safest and most powerful system of its kind…

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…

Norwegian ocean-bottom seismic specialist Magseis entered into a $233 million deal to acquire the Seismic Technologies business from Fairfield Geotechnologies."Magseis will acquire the Seismic Technologies business from Fairfield comprising data acquisition, nodal and system sale & rental activities, including all shares in Fairfield's wholly owned U.K. subsidiary WGP Group," said a press release from the company.The name of the new business will be Magseis Fairfield. Fairfield Geotechnologies will remain privately held by the Sugahara family through Fairfield-Maxwell and focus its efforts on data licensing and data processing, as well as imaging…

Scandinavia's Offshore/Marine electronics manufacturing services company Kitron and Norwegian geophysical company Magseis ASA has entered into an agreement to manufacture Magseis' MASS (Marine Autonomous Seismic System) nodes to support their growth.Magseis, founded in 2009,  is specialising in OBS - Ocean Bottom Seismic - acquisition. Magseis has developed their proprietary, autonomous MASS nodes and fully automated handling system, which is used to acquire high quality seismic data for clients. The OBS market is in steady growth and the demand for OBS nodes is increasing.Based on Kitron's experience and capacity, Magseis has awarded Kitron a contract to supply electronics, high-level assembly and system testing of the MASS nodes.

Solstad Farstad ASA (SOFF) has entered into a contract with Fairfield Industries Inc. for the CSV “Normand Tonjer”. The contract will commence in 3Q 2018 and has a duration of one year firm plus two yearly options.Fairfield will use the vessel to support their innovative worldwide ocean bottom seismic survey using node-based technology.Solstad Farstad has updated other contracts too. The key contracts in the subsea construction segment include Far Saga contract extension with Petrobras until 2Q’20,  Nor Australis awarded 3 months contract with Magseis for operations in Southeast Asia and  Normand Installer renewal of frame agreement…

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.

SeaBird Exploration announced it is in an exclusive process to acquire the seismic vessel Geowave Voyager and certain seismic equipment from Exploration Vessel Resources II AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of CGG S.A., for a cash consideration of $17 million.SeaBird intends to carry out a private placement of new shares in the company raising gross proceeds of minimum NOK 80 million and maximum of NOK 120 million. The subscription price  in the Private Placement will be determined through an accelerated book-building process. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to finance the Transaction and for general corporate purposes.The company is currently in an exclusive process with CGG to acquire the seismic vessel Geowave Voyager…

announced the conclusion of its seismic acquisition program in the and St. Georges Channel area, offshore . The program, first announced on 15 September, 2006 was carried out by Gardline Surveys Limited utilizing the MV Sea Surveyor. In total, approximately 1,000 kms of high quality data was acquired in the period 10 October 2006 through to 6 November 2006 Specifically, 286 kms of 2-D data was acquired over Pegasus, a large exploration structure in the St. Georges Channel, 369 kms of 3-D data was acquired over the Ardmore gas discovery and 279 kms over the Hook Head oil and gas discovery. As announced on 26 October 2006, Ocean Bottom Seismic (OBS) was successfully deployed over the Blackrock oil discovery.

SeaBird Exploration Limited (SBX) has acquired M/V Sentinel. A DP (Dynamically Positioned) vessel, built in 1979. The vessel will be converted to a Source/Ocean Bottom Seismic ship. Total cost for the vessel, including upgrade and additional equipment, is expected to be up to $20 million. The vessel is expected to be in full operation from early 2007.