Seismic Survey Companies at the Forefront of Oil and Gas Exploration

The search for new carbon deposits in the ocean has increased and continues to range farther offshore. Seismic survey companies have become a critical component in finding the world’s recoverable oil and gas reserves. Many of the areas being explored are deeper and in more inhospitable environments. Both the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic continue to be at the forefront for exploration.  There are en estimated 380 billion barrels of undiscovered oil and gas north of the Arctic Circle with the majority existing in offshore areas. Polcarus doubled it’s fleet in 2011 from three to six vessels. All of the Polcarus arctic vessels are double hulled and have environmentally conscious features. Several of those features include advanced ballast and bilge water cleaning systems, high spec catalytic converters, and low sulfur fuel. The vessels can collect subsurface data through hydrophones shooting an air gun that measures the interval between sound waves hitting the seafloor and bouncing back to the surface. The French company CGGVeritas is carrying out 3D, multi client, 133 square-mile survey near the Kuaruk and Alpine oil fields. Dolphin Geophysical has begun a 3D acquisition survey of nearly 3,600 kilometers offshore, while ION Geophysical Corporations Orca® command and Control system installed it’s 50 vessel, the 12-streamer Propector owned by the Chinese seismic survey company BGP. WesternGeco, a London based geophysical company began acquisition of the Bjørnøya Phase I “Ice Bear” 3D multi-client 2500-sq-km survey using 10x7 km streamers in the West Loppa area of the Barents Sea. The growth of this unconventional exploration is having a major impact on both land and sea based oil and gas industry operations. The reserves are characterized by tight shale rock and have proved challenging for producers and have only recently become viable after the introduction of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. Tight reservoirs that have to be stimulated by injecting fluids and propellants open up oil and gas flow. This process is known as the fracking process.