First Break October 2018

VO L U M E 3 6 I I S S U E 10 I O C T O B E R 2 018

SPECIAL TOPIC

EM & Potential Methods CROSSTALK Will Shearwater’s gamble pay off?

TECHNICAL ARTICLE Characterization of a cave with electrical resistivity 3D-inversions

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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, Statoil UK (pdrum@statoil.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)

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Characterization of a cave by means of microgravity and electrical resistivity 3D-inversions

Editorial Contents 3

EAGE News

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Crosstalk

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Industry News

Technical Articles 29

Characterization of a cave by means of microgravity and electrical resistivity 3D-inversions Z. de Braga cave (Mira de Aire, Portugal), F.J. Martínez-Moreno, F.A. Monteiro Santos, J. Galindo-Zaldívar, L. González-Castillo, A. Pedrera, I. Bernando, S. Gonçalves and J. Alves Ribeiro

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Present and future contribution of geophysics to the prevention through design and quality management approaches for tunneling operations E. De Cillis, P. Fargione, L. Maida, M. Patrucco and L. Sambuelli

MEDIA PRODUCTION MANAGER Thomas Beentje (tbe@eage.org) ACCOUNT MANAGER ADVERTISING Charles Callaghan (ccn@eage.org) ACCOUNT MANAGER SUBSCRIPTIONS Jack McClean (jmn@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 Novocheremushkinskaya Str. 65 Build. 1 117418, 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

Special Topic: EM & Potential Methods 43

Measuring gravity gradient in rugged terrain: HeliFalcon survey in Aso-Oguni, Japan Tianyou Chen and Mark Dransfield

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Inversion of TEM responses to create a near surface velocity stucture I. Shelokhov, I. Buddo, A. Smirnov, M. Sharlov and Y. Agafonov

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Water resources detection at Santiago Island, Cape Verde using electromagnetic methods Rui Gonçalves, Fernando A. Monteiro Santos, Mohammad Farzamian, Patrícia Represas, A. Mota Gomes, A.F. Lobo de Pina, and Eugénio P. Almeida

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Mapping seafloor massive sulfides with the Golden Eye frequency-domain EM profiler Hendrik Müller, Katrin Schwalenberg, Konstantin Reeck, Udo Barckhausen, Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera, Christian Hilgenfeldt and Tilo von Dobeneck

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Cloud computing for large-scale controlled-source electromagnetic inversions, Barents Sea, Norway Karen Engell Savoretti, Stefan Dümmong, Berit Ensted Danielsen, Jan Ove Hansen, Mark Austin Read, Hans Rune Bue and Torgeir Wiik

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Advances in electromagnetic techniques for exploration, prospecting, and monitoring of hydrocarbon deposits Viacheslav V. Spichak

Feature

EAGE LATIN AMERICA OFFICE Carrera 14 No 97-63 Piso 5 Bogotá, Colombia • +57 1 4232948 • americas@eage.org • www.eage.org

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EAGE MEMBERS CHANGE OF ADDRESS NOTIFICATION Send to: EAGE Membership Dept at EAGE Office (address above)

Can oil and gas exploration deliver on prediction?

David G. Quirk, Stuart G. Archer, Graeme Keith, Paul Herrington, Abryl and O. Ramirez Maren Bjørheim

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Calendar

FIRST BREAK ON THE WEB www.firstbreak.org ISSN 0263-5046 (print) / ISSN 1365-2397 (online)

cover: Mount Aso is the largest active volcano in Japan. Chen et al. examine the challenges posed by such rugged terrains on p. 43.

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European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers

Board 2018-2019 Jean-Jacques Biteau President

Near Surface Geoscience Division George Apostolopoulos Chair Alireza Malehmir Vice-Chair Micki Allen Contact Officer EEGS-NA Riyadh Al-Saad O&G Liaison Xavier Garcia Committee Member Peter Bergmann Technical Programme Representative Albert Casas Membership Officer Ranajit Ghose Editor in Chief Near Surface Geophysics Musa Manzi Committee Member Andreas Kathage Liaison Officer First Break Koya Suto Liaison Asia Pacific Musa Manzi Committee Member Jiangha Xia Liaison China

Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

Peter Lloyd Vice-President-Elect

Michael Pöppelreiter Vi c e-President

Colin MacBeth Education Officer

Caroline Jane Lowrey Chair Michael Peter Suess Vice-Chair Øistein Bøe Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Phil Christie Chief Editor Petroleum Geoscience Rick Donselaar Technical Programme Representative (Geology) Xavier Garcia NSGD liaison Sebastian Geiger Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Olivier Gosselin Technical Programme Representative (Reservoir), Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Juliane Heiland Committee member David Halliday Technical Programme Representative (Geophysics), YP liaison Tijmen Jan Moser Editor-in-Chief Geophysical Prospecting Ann Muggeridge IOR Committee liaison Walter Rietveld Technical Programme Officer Michael Welch Technical Programme Representative (Geology), NSGD liaison Martin Widmaier Technical Programme Representative (Geophysics) Paul Worthington Resource Evaluation Committee liaison Michael Zhdanov NSGD liaison Conor Ryan Resource evaluation committee Francesco Perrone Young professionals liason

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.

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COPYRIGHT & PHOTOCOPYING © 2018 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.

Aart-Jan van Wijngaarden Technical Programme Officer

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George Apostolopoulos Chair Near Surface Geoscience Division

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Caroline Jane Lowrey Chair Oil & Gas Geoscience Division

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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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The exhibition booth that spoke the language of code

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SAGEEP 2019 Call for Abstracts is open!

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Laurie Dake Challenge is a win for industry and students

Desert photo wins Best Photo 2018

Class in the desert: Ahmad Gholami.

Congratulations go to the winners of the 2018 EAGE/EFG Photo Contest. First place was awarded to Ahmad Gholami for his photo ‘Class in the Desert’. The second and third prizes went respectively

Evaporite rocks: Diego Alberto Cordova Sanchez.

to Diego Alberto Cordova Sanchez for ‘Evaporite rocks’ and Jimmy Jiao for ‘Jointed columns and kink banks in volcanic ash layer’.

This was an exciting run for the contest: 167 entries from 42 different countries were initially submitted. A selection of 100 photos in five categories was admitted and opened for voting in two rounds.

In the first rounds EAGE and EFG members were invited to express their preference in all five categories and over 2000 people submitted their votes. The 12 most popular pictures were then presented at the EAGE Annual Meeting in Copenhagen in June and remained available online for a second round of voting.

A final record of 2620 votes were collected in this period. The 12 final photos portray a range of countries Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mexico and USA – where geoscientists are shown at work on the field, from mountain areas to tropical parks and underground caves – with highlights on young professionals and female geoscientists.

Voted the top 12 photos were: 1.

‘Class in the desert’, Shahrud Desert, Iran - Ahmad Gholami; 2. ‘Evaporite rocks’, Sisal, Mexico - Diego A. Cordova Sanchez; 3. ‘Jointed columns and kink banks in volcanic ash layer’, Geopark, Hong Kong - Jimmy Jiao; 4. ‘Strike a candid between outcrops’, Samarinda, FIRST

Indonesia - Agra Adipta; 5. ‘Futureto-be women geoscientists’, Kemasik, Malaysia - Yi Ning Fong; 6. ‘Daytime multichannel analysis of surface wave acquisition’, Pakuwon City, Indonesia - Maria Juliana Gultom; 7. ‘Science of depth, depth of science’, Bátaapáti, Hungary - Ágnes Krupa; 8. ‘Autumn coal harvest’, Jewett coal mine, USA - Jonathan M. Stine; 9. ‘Wonder of old man’, Ahwaz, Iran - Auref Rostamian; 10. ‘Drilling a new development well in Esfand field’, Sirri District, Persian Gulf - Pooria Adabnezhad; 11. ‘Geology student on the field’, Bukit Keluang, Malaysia - Yi Ning Fong; 12. ‘Field geologists’. Kamarkuh Region, Iran - Pooria Adabnezhad.

All 12 pictures will be featured in the EAGE calendar, available at the end of the year. Photos for next year’s Photo Contest can be submitted from 1 January 2019.

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Jointed columns and kink banks: Jimmy Jiao.

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EAGE NEWS

Fault and Top Seals 2019 in Sicily will expand its focus to carbonates and unconventionals

Panoramic View of the Gulf of Mondello, Palermo, Sicily, Italy.

The Fifth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals is due to be held in Palermo, Italy on 8-12 September 2019.

As well as continuing on the theme of fault and top seals to sandstone reservoirs, co-chairs of the event, Frauke Schaefer and Quentin Fisher say the conference is particularly keen to attract papers on seals to and within carbonate and unconventional reservoirs, which have been largely neglected in previous conferences.

This longstanding event began as a recognition that errors in predicting the sealing capacity of faults and caprocks cost the petroleum industry a huge amount of money. Many dry wells are due to caprock and fault seal leakage, underestimating or overestimating the number of wells required to drain a reservoir, or incorrectly positioning wells in fault compartmentalized reservoirs.

Four previous conferences on these issues have been held in Europe generally concentrated on improving understanding and reducing risks associated with fault seal and top seal assessment in siliciclastic sequences. These meetings have attracted delegates from a wide range of disciplines, such as structural geology, geomechanics, geophysics, reservoir and petroleum engineering, and have provided an excellent forum where both successful and unsuccessful 4

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experiences of seal analysis have been shared.

In terms of unconventionals, key aspects to be discussed will be whether top seals are required for shale gas resource plays and, if so, how their sealing capacity is predicted. Fault seals in carbonate reservoirs have often been thought of as not being important because these reservoirs are often viewed as having deformed in a brittle dilatant manner producing fault-related conduits not barriers. However, it is clear that chalk reservoirs are currently deforming in a ductile manner and there are an increasing number of studies recognizing the presence of low permeability fault rocks in carbonate reservoirs.

It is hoped that the conference will attract papers that present evidence for faults acting as seals in carbonate reservoirs. This will then help us to further understand the conditions in which faults act as barriers to flow in these reservoirs.

All previous conferences have benefited from a broad spectrum of papers including case studies, outcrop analogues, results from laboratory studies and numerical modelling. There have also been valuable contributions from outside the petroleum industry, for example, lessons learned by the radioactive waste and CO2 storage industries.

We hope to continue this inter-disci-

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plinary approach and attract papers on new technologies such as the use of data mining and artificial intelligence in seal analysis.

The last conference held in Almeria, Spain, attracted a particularly impressive selection of student posters and presentations, including an award for the best student presentation. We aim to continue this competition for the best student poster presentation and attract a sponsor to provide prizes for the winner and runners-up.

Consistent with the theme of fault seals in carbonate reservoirs, a field trip will be held to study faults in carbonates on the San Vito Lo Capo peninsula in northwest Sicily. The fieldtrip will be led by Dr Emanuele Tondi, who has published several papers on the macrostructure, microstructure and petrophysical properties of faults from these outcrops. The field trip will provide the opportunity for participants to study deformation bands in high porosity Upper Pliocene-Lower grainstones as well as breccia zones and cataclastic fault rocks in low porosity carbonates from the Middle-Upper Cretaceous.

Deadline for submission of abstracts for the Fifth International Conference on Fault and Top Seals is 1 May 2019 and details can be found on the event website via events.eage.org.

multi-client seismic

BRAZIL

Brazil: Santos Campos 2D Multi-Client 2D Seismic for the Exploration Journey to Giant Oil

Legend

Spectrum Multi-Client 2D seismic Spectrum Multi-Client 3D seismic Bid round 16 Bid round 17 Bid round 18 Open Door Basin boundary EEZ 200 m

Spectrum holds more than 38,000 km of long offset 2D seismic data in the Santos-Campos basin over some of the most exciting open exploration acreage in the world. These surveys, acquired between 2012 to 2018, have now been de-ghosted and are available in both Pre-Stack Time and Depth Migration (Kirchoff & RTM).

This seismic covers a vast area where the prolific pre-salt play is confirmed to extend out from giant discoveries into the16th Round Sector area. The 2D data, acquired in a 10 km x 10 km grid, allows crustal structure to be defined, thereby enhancing thermal maturity modelling and imaging of base salt and syn-rift source rock sequences. The prolific Barra Velha sequence is now mappable from Tupi, Jupiter and Libra into open acreage.

Multiple giant structures with billion barrel low-risk oil potential are mapped within Brazil’s 16th Round Sector. This regional seismic data allows prioritization of the main play fairways, structural trends and oil prone areas, as well as deep crustal fault distribution mapping for CO2 risk mitigation. Yet-to-find analysis of the area covered by this dataset exceeds the 60 billion barrel potential resource already discovered in the pre-salt play.

spectrumgeo.com mc-uk@spectrumgeo.com +44 1483 730201

EAGE NEWS

Buenos Aires hosts another successful Education Days The latest Education Days Buenos Aires on 14-18 May 2018 confirmed that this learning event provides a popular opportunity for companies in Argentina to learn and/or update themselves on specific topics and improve their knowledge of latest research and technology.

The presentations took place at IAPG (Instituto Argentino del Petrรณleo y del Gas) facilities and offered a high quality programme composed of three courses specifically designed for geophysicists, geologists and engineers.

Participants of the first two-day course, Explorational Rock Physics and Seismic Reservoir Prediction by Dr Per Avseth and Prof Dr Tor Arne, had the opportunity to hear about latest applications of rock physics in the geoscience/ reservoir engineering field.

The second two-day geology course, New Tools and Approaches in Reservoir Quality Prediction by Dr Dave Cantrell, was an interactive experience allowing

Downtown Buenos Aires.

participants to discuss various aspects of the topic in hand.

The course on Uncertainty Quantification and Management by Dr Dario Grana provided a successful conclusion to the event.

Participants from different companies including Total Austral, Pan Energy, YPF,

Pluspetrol and Wintershall were reportedly satisfied with the high level of the multiple short courses delivered by EAGE instructors and with the programme offered.

We want to thank our venue host IAPG and our main sponsor Total Austral for their commitment and support for this EAGE learning event.

EAGE Education Calendar 1 OCT

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

3 OCT

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

PERTH, AUSTRALIA

14 OCT

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

ANAHEIM, USA

15 OCT 22-26 OCT

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

WEBINAR BY RENE-EDOUARD PLESSIX

ONLINE

EDUCATION DAYS STAVANGER: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME

STAVANGER, NORWAY

23 OCT

WEBINAR BY PETER HAFFINGER

ONLINE

29 OCT

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

LONDON, UK

1 NOV 5-9 NOV

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

ABERDEEN, UK

EDUCATION DAYS HOUSTON: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME

HOUSTON, USA

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

MASSY, FRANCE

15-16 NOV

EDUCATION DAYS AMSTERDAM: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

19-23 NOV

15 NOV

EDUCATION DAYS MOSCOW: MULTIPLE SHORT COURSES PROGRAMME

MOSCOW, RUSSIA

30 NOV

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 12

LISBON, PORTUGAL

3 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

HAMBURG, GERMANY

3 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 10

SOUTH KOREA

5 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

OSLO, NORWAY

5 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 10

JAPAN

7 DEC

EAGE EDUCATION TOUR 13

WARSAW, POLAND

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

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EAGE NEWS

Workshop learns the good news on simultaneous sources Over 60 delegates from 13 organizations representing 11 countries took part in some lively discussions during the EAGE Workshop on Simultaneous Sources on 24 July 2018 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This is the workshop report.

In the opening session it was already clear that simultaneous (SimSource) acquisition and processing have arrived in a big way as commercial applications.

Sandeep Kumar Chandola (Petronas) recounted his company’s careful and measured approach over the last four years to first test, evaluate and analyze and put into production various simsource methods. He indicated that, to date, it has delivered on its promise to reduce cost and improve data results.

This keynote address was followed by another invited talk presented by M. Shah Sulaiman (PCSB) describing joint work with PGS on Petronas’ first triple SimSource acquisition and processing effort.

They reported results as expected: improved acquisition cost along with improved spatial sampling compared with conventional towed streamer acquisition. The session ended on a cautiously optimistic note concluding that SimSource techniques are proving themselves in the field, but careful processing and QC are necessary to insure we maintain the necessary quality.

Following the opening session, the workshop consisted of the following topic-specific sessions with extensive Q&A and discussion.

Simsource in practice Presenters Ian Moore (WesternGeco) and Gary Hampson (DownUnder Geosolutions) have been leading innovators in evolving deblending technologies. Moore gave a conceptual overview of why blended acquisition and deblending techniques work.

He described all the pertinent components requiring consideration in the initial survey design and how the management of those components are leveraged in the deblending processes.

Hampson presented an historical overview of how SimSource acquisition and processing technologies have evolved over the last 20 years or so. He described some of the basic approaches initial proposed for

deblending using random noise attenuation and inversion techniques. He also gave a very nice conceptual example of a modern inversion technique.

With that technical background in place, the talk by B.D. Priyambodo (BP Indonesia) showed how BP has used the theoretical constructs presented in the first two papers in the design and implementation of a complex ocean bottom node (OBN) survey in Bintuni Bay, Indonesia, using three independent source vessels.

New developments in separation The first presentation in this session by Bertrand Caselitz (PGS) provided examples of iterative inversion-based deblending of marine data acquired with multi-sensor cable and triple sources employing source dithering. The inversion scheme uses data residual feedback to improve the signal preservation while attenuating the blended noise more effectively. The results showed improved cross-line sampling while maintaining the same streamer separation, the same number of streamers, and the same sail-line separation.

C. MengQi (BGP) discussed deblending of synthetic and real data from an onshore vibroseis simultaneous multi-shooting acquisition. The examples showed well separated shots after iterative

Question from the floor.

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sparse inversion method and deblended migration images. Finally in this session Lorenzo Casasanta (Shearwater) explained and showed results for a seismic apparition method and discussed the challenges for this method. Careful planning of modulation code for acquisition and data preparation prior to deblending is shown to be the key to success as applied to a triple source marine field test dataset.

Future directions for acquisition and processing The final session included four presentations where a common theme was the potential for more sources of smaller capacity and/or variable types both to improve data quality and to mitigate environmental issues. Caselitz advocated ‘white noise’ sources created from individual airguns designed to click like dolphins. Similarly, Per Eivind Dhelie (Lundin) proposed smaller, point-like, sources for improved resolution. Phil Fontana (Polarcus) focused more on the environmental benefits of smaller sources, whilst Eric Verschuur (Delft University) illustrated the potential advantages of dispersed sources, each contributing a limited bandwidth to the source wavefield.

Verschuur went on to demonstrate that deblending may be unnecessary if the data are suitably inverted and imaged directly.

It was truly rewarding to see technical experts from all over the globe discussing the various aspects simultaneous source acquisition and processing. We can look back on an exciting workshop in Kuala Lumpur and would like to thank those in the workshop programme committee especially the workshop co-chairs, Craig Beasley and Abdul Aziz Muhammad (Petronas) for their commitment and contribution to making the event a success.

Preceding the workshop, a short course on ‘Simultaneous Sources: Introduction to Acquisition and Processing and Recent Advances’ by Beasley was much appreciated by participants.

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EAGE NEWS

The exhibition booth that spoke the language of code The Code Show was a first for the EAGE Annual, and by all accounts it attracted quite a bit of attention and plenty of willing participants to try out the gizmos. Evan Bianco, Agile Scientific, Canada explains what was involved.

Technical society exhibitions at events like the EAGE Annual Conference & Exhibition are grand spectacles. They are bright, energetic pop-up marketplaces where dozens of technology and service companies showcase the latest technology and service offerings to thousands of attendees. A giant warehouse gets transformed into an arena

entation area with scattered seating in the back. Table tops were set up as hands-on demo stations. They were adorned with laptops hooked up to electronics kits and other gadgets. Those of us powering the booth beckoned passers-by to take a closer look and maybe try some editing and experimentation.

Wierd but wonderful: immersed in geology.

where organizations compete for eyeballs, looking for brand recognition and sales leads.

This year, Agile teamed up with Total E&P and EAGE to bring a different kind of booth to the exhibition floor. The Code Show was designed to be a place for participation, somewhere people could drop by for a few minutes or even a few hours, play around with a few working demonstrations, and even get to open the box to see — and even change! — the code underneath.

We also wanted to bring a little of the Subsurface Hackathon experience to the exhibition The most recent had taken place the weekend before the show.

The booth was designed to accommodate several activities going on at once.

It was sparsely furnished: standing-height tables and stools in the front, with a pres8

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Immersive and hands-on learning The theme of the Code Show was ‘Visualization and interaction’, which was the same theme as the Subsurface Hackathon.

Dell EMC provided HTC Vive and Meta 2 headsets for virtual and augmented geology immersion. With the Vive, participants got acquainted with the headsets and joysticks by walking off the edge of a virtual skyscraper and then took a virtual tour of a geologic outcrop from Total. It wasn’t all fun and games though, critical conversations emerged orbiting above voxelated meandering channel geobodies.

This was a visceral, sometimes disorienting experience that provided people a new means of interacting with familiar data sets.

Dell EMC also generously provided 16 Dell Precision laptops for general use.

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We launched an assortment of interactive Jupyter notebooks on them, highlighting a variety of jobs that can be done with a few dozen lines of code or so. We hooked up a number of BBC micro:bit microcontrollers and created a real-time line plot of the three axes of motion from the devices’ accelerometers. It was a low-cost 3-component geophone — less than $20 and less than 20 lines of code. People were banging, slapping, and nudging the tables (in different orientations of course!) to create waveforms.

We also provided a number of Microsoft Azure IoT DevKits and Google AIY Vision Kits for collecting and analyzing all kinds of digital information. We were streaming and plotting data from temperature sensors, cameras, acoustic range finders, digital levels, and more. Additionally, engineers from Intel and INT hosted demonstrations and tutorials on scientific visualizations, all using data from the petroleum industry.

Augmented reality When Simon Virgo had showed up at the Hackathon with a Microsoft Kinect, a roll of duct tape, and a couple of bags of sand, he recruited so many people to hack on his augmented reality sandbox that they had to split up into two teams. And, since GemPy, the software that drives the sandbox is open-source, teams could build on top of it very rapidly in whatever way they fancied.

The sandbox was such a big hit at the Hackathon, we asked Simon to set it up again at the Code Show so more people could see it. We taxied to a hardware store to buy the largest container we could find and as many bags of sand as we could carry. It was a last-minute superstar of the Code Show, amazing people with its hardware adaptation, rejuvenating many people’s appreciation for structural geology and providing a deeply fulfilling sense of play.

The sandbox was rigged up with two demos engineered by teams at the Hacka-

EAGE NEWS

thon. In the first demo, the surface of the sand served as a surface map. Sculpting and shaping the topography updated the geologic map intersecting a 3D geologic model. In the second demo, the height of the sand surface was used to sculpt a velocity field for producing wavefield animations with the Devito modelling and inversion software. The result: engagement, education, imagination. Really special.

No time to schedule As well as the sandbox demo, we featured other projects from the Hackathon. These served as a lens into the weekend’s worth of work — mostly by teams whose members had met for the first time when the event began. Some had more coding skills than others, others had domain knowledge and ideas. Many people were energized and inspired by the impromptu nature of these short talks, trimmed of fat and straight to the point. A number of the speakers stayed around for a short Q&A, pointed people to their code repos, or watched them interact with their just-working apps.

Graham Brew (Dynamic Graphics, USA) presented the geostatistical uncertainty visualizer his Hackathon team built; Jesper Dramsch (DTU, Copenhagen) and Lukas Moser (Imperial College London) showed off some investigations of t-SNE visualizations on petrophysical data; Florian Smit (DTU, Copenhagen) and Steve Purves (Euclidity, Spain) demoed their RGB colour blending explorations; and Paul Gabriel (GiGa InfoSystems, Germany) shared two teams’ projects in AR outcrop and 3D surface rendering.

Midway through the Code Show one of the EAGE organizers dropped by and asked ‘What kind of traffic are you getting?’. In a way that suggested that we should have been keeping track of such things with a mechanical golf counter as attendees stepped onto the carpet. We had no idea. When you’re too busy to even think about counting, or eating, or even going to the restroom, that’s all we could have asked for.

The booth experience was new for us.

We’d been hoping to get more people set up and coding on their own laptops, but

the activity at the booth was a bit too social and a bit too dynamic for people to really roll up their sleeves and get deep into some code.

We are extremely grateful to the EAGE for enabling the Code Show, and to our friends at Total and Dell EMC for bringing resources and people to the scene. Hopefully we can build on this concept and be even more audacious next time!

Sandbox for geos to play with.

Student competition to show the way on meeting the environmental challenge There is no doubt now that oil companies worldwide have taken note and are actively working towards becoming greener in their existing and planned operations. But much of our future environment will of course be determined by a new generation of geoscientists making their way into the industry.

This is why EAGE in association with sponsors Total and Equinor have introduced the Minus CO2 Challenge student competition. For our shortlisted teams, the prize will be paid travel, room and board to our Annual Conference in London, 3-6 June 2019. For the overall winner, after the final round on 2 June 2019 in London, there will also be a second expenses paid trip to present the winning solution at our flagship Near Surface Geoscience Conference and Exhibition in September 2019 in the Netherlands.

The first step in being effective in any sphere of activity is to understand the problem and to be able to formulate a sound

plan. And that’s what will be the challenge for students. They will have the opportunity to pit their wits against other creative young minds at some of the best universities and institutes around the world and come up with exciting solutions.

Students will be given an offshore field to develop (a real field with real data, not a hypothetical construct). They will be invited to formulate a production strategy to reduce the development’s carbon footprint to less than neutral. In other words, the operation should have the net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than adding to it.

In parallel, the issue will be how to produce hydrocarbons commercially to sustain strong per capita economies and social infrastructures in Europe, indeed in the world. The mantra should be that respectful extraction of hydrocarbons helps fuel the energy transition upon which EAGE is very much focused and creates a professionFIRST

al future for our young geoscientists and engineers.

The competition is being made possible through EAGE’s Green Fund to which half of our membership makes a contribution. We are receiving further generous sponsorship from Total with support from Equinor which this year has offered to provide real-world data sets to make the whole exercise truly representative and meaningful.

The best teams will be invited to visit Equinor’s operations centre in Aberdeen.

There, they will be able to meet its technical staff and review existing and future offshore operations which are committed to meeting the environmental challenges which the resources industry faces today.

Needless to say EAGE is excited to be staging this competition. For all the details, students and all those interested should go to our website https://students.eage.org/en/ minus-co2-challenge/how-to-participate.

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EAGE NEWS

Tackling the Mexican GoM deep water exploration challenge The 2018 Cancun EAGE Workshop on Mexico’s deep water exploration programme, supported by key energy authorities, provided some important pointers to what future successful exploration and production would require. Pierre Esquier (Total), Christian Longis (Total), Humberto Salazar-Soto (Pemex), Emilio Garcia-Caro (Equinor) and Steve Pitman (PGS) compiled this report on the event.

Getting informed on Mexico’s deep water prospects.

Why such an initiative? Since 2014, Mexico has undergone a major constitutional reform opening up its offshore acreage to exploration by international companies.

With yet-to-find reserves globally estimated at 25 giga barrels of oil equivalent (gboe), the competition to access attractive acreage in deep-water basins is underway, even if the current capital investment environment is tough, The safe, successful and cost-effective exploitation of Mexico’s Gulf of Mexico deep water is a challenge for scientific researchers, industry and authorities to overcome. It also requires the establishment of processes and protocols that encourage industry to keep acquiring data and drill wells.

Meeting the challenge No individual has all solutions on its own!

In a context where exploration budget are significantly constrained and risks are high, the stakeholders community has undoubtedly to collaborate and activate its collective imagination in order to leverage the collective efficiency. This bold ambition, first discussed in June 2017 in Paris during the EAGE Workshop 12 ‘How exploration is adapting to the low price environment’, received a warm welcome from SENER (Mexican Energy Ministry), CNH (Mexican National Hydrocarbons Commission) and other industry players when the project to hold this 1st EAGE workshop on Mexican Deepwater Exploration was presented to them at the end of 2017.

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Indeed, the local authorities perceived clearly how, at the perimeter of Mexican deep water exploration plays, the Cancun workshop could opportunistically make a difference and help to move from a current situation with a limited number of expensive programmes towards a larger number of more cost effective programmes leading hopefully to greater chance of success to make commercial discoveries and create value in Mexico’s deep water.

The programme embraced both the subsurface and operational challenges perspectives, attracting both exploration and drilling operations companies as well as all the other stakeholders. This was acknowledged by Juan Soldo, at the time EAGE vice-president, in his introductory speech.

A balance in the agenda was found between an ‘incentive phase’ thanks to VIP keynotes, a ‘setting the frame’ phase through technical talks to illustrate challenges, and a ‘collaborative phase’ with topical round tables, to allow good exchange between the stakeholders and to generate ideas with strong potential.

There was finally an ‘engagement session’ to sum up, draft initial smart action plans and allow willing participants interested in taking a leadership role to move forward in the coming months.

Some 150 participants showed up to the event, representing the full spectrum of stakeholders and surpassing expectations.

Two thirds of the attendees were focused on subsurface topics and one-third on operations. In addition, 15 students selected from the best Mexican universities were invited,

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sponsored by AMGE (Mexican Association of Exploration Geophysicists) and Total.

At the VIP session authorities and other key stakeholders explained how they came about the reform, their expectations in terms of benefits to the country, and the cultural shift in their organizations. They encouraged everyone to discuss openly and share what could be improved. The encouraging success rate in Mexican deep water exploration and the Zama top-story gave very positive energy to the discussion.

Awareness of possible operators’ collaboration across licences was also raised: ‘We never thought that operators from adjacent blocks could work together on the same rig consortia’. said one of the representatives, hoping to ease some of the administrative burden foreseen by authorities in relation to the future activity boom.

Taking the initiative The Subsurface Challenges session covered global data access, knowledge sharing, geophysical technologies to decrease exploration risks and improved pore pressure predictions. Possible actions plans were identified around the next major geophysical joint survey, the integration of multiple geophysical data to rank the portfolio of prospects, the promotion of a national data repository to ease data access, particiularly HSE related data, and the encouragement of knowledge sharing.

Four initiatives were seen as priority: 1) ‘Seismic Acquisition Efficiency’: This is a way to encourage all players in the Mexican offshore industry to collaborate on larger areas (>10 000 km2) to reduce unit rates and to create an environment which gives more stability to the seismic contractors (long term contracts, group shoots, etc.). It promotes new large surveys once first deep water explorations wells are drilled, in a short timeframe, aiming at using space and time to reduce unit

EAGE NEWS

rate. Experience of megasurvey tendering, supported by regulators in some parts of the world, clearly indicates the relevancy of this kind of effort.

2) ‘Complex Models’: This promising initiative, for example making use of CSEM, gravity and seismic data to decrease the risks of Mexican prospects is more of a mid-term effort, as understanding of how and when to put the technology in the workflow is not clear yet and would have regulator implications to ease the access to existing data.

3) ‘Establishing Protocols for Sharing Safety Related Drilling Data’: Such protocols are deemed very relevant to prevent drilling risk. AMEXHI (the Operators Association in Mexico) is perceived as an important leader to institute an exchange with the Environmental Commission and with the Ministry of Energy to decide on relevant data to be released for HSE purposes.

4) ‘Developing Collaboration with Mexican Research Institutes and Universities,’: This looks at building an inventory of Mexican universities and institutes capabilities and specializations, in order to develop relationships and promote the creation of industrial consortia to study specific topics of interest.

During the Operational Challenges session, the presentations covered regulation requirements to drill wells by CNH (Mexican National Hydrocarbons Commission), a very open discussion of the first drilling experience by international operator by Westwood Energy, the AMEXHI deep water initiative, the ‘rig consortium’ experiences developed in Norway, the ‘Oil Spill Response’ preparedness status in Mexico, the ‘Zero Discharge’ constraints, the new deep water drilling and testing technologies, and finally the highlights on the key new Zama discovery by Sierra Oil. Action plans Three key action plans have been drafted: 1) ‘Drilling Management Forum’: This will promote regular forums with the authorities where regulatory requirements can be discussed taking account of technical considerations, with the strong incentive to deliver on time, cost effective and safe well operations. Developing the rig consortium idea is part of this action plan as well as easing the approval processes and sharing industry practices with the regulator.

2) ‘Zero Discharge, Merits of New Offshore Waste Processing Technologies’: Here, the objective is to get a clearer picture of the existing regulations in place,

and investigate how it is possible to raise awareness of the environmental agencies in Mexico regarding existing acceptable alternative technologies.

3) ‘Integration of Regulatory Process’: The aim is to establish standardization regarding permitting, well integrity, evaluation and development plans, and critical equipment.

The workshop, supported by CNH and SENER and chaired by PEMEX and Total, is not supposed to be a ‘one shot’ event. It revealed a list of relevant initiatives that potentially represent for Mexico’s on-going exploration increased efficiency and multi-million dollar savings opportunities.

It also revealed the engagement of industry leadership motivated to implement the action plans. A follow-up workshop is already being planned next year in Cancun to measure the progress achieved. With more drilling and more rounds to come this year, we have to consider pursuing our journey with all the people engaged so far.

The organizers would like to give special thanks to Total, the main sponsor, EAGE for its organization and logistical support, and to SENER (Mexican Energy Ministry) and CNH ( Mexican National Hydrocarbons Commission) for their encouragement.

SAGEEP 2019 Call for Abstracts is open!

EAGE’s landmark collaboration with the Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society (EEGS) is now in full swing with the announcement of the Call for Abstracts for SAGEEP 2019. This annual near surface event, the most significant of its kind in North America, is due to take place in Portland, Oregon between 17-21 March. It will be the first occasion in which EAGE will be cooperating with EEGS in the planning and staging of a SAGEEP meeting In 2019 SAGEEP will combine three near-surface related conferences with a world-class commercial exhibition, complemented by a variety of other activities.

The event includes the 32nd Symposium on the Application of Geophysics to Engi-

neering and Environmental Problems as well as separate conferences on Geohazards and Shallow Marine/Coastal Geophysics. The three-conference structure is a first for SAGEEP and should provide welcome additional scope to fully explore issues in near surface technology.

SAGEEP 2019 also boasts an exhibition supported by some of the most important players in the near surface geoscience industry. A number of exhibitors will be demonstrating their latest technology at a location close to the venue.

The deadline for the Call for Abstracts to participate at SAGEEP 2019 is 4 November, 2018. For submission details, refer to www.sageep.org. At the website you can explore the various topics addressed at

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the three conference with a description of the goals of each event. More information on the exhibition, the city of Portland and accommodation can also be found there.

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EAGE NEWS

Why the Laurie Dake Challenge is a win for industry and students

Student participants in the Laurie Dake Challenge.

Practical experience is an important factor for successful entry into an industry career. And that’s what the EAGE’s Laurie Dake Challenge is all about, but it is also a response to the industry’s need for more integration and cooperation between different kinds of geoscience expertise. As a result the competition is a win-win for the industry and for who have the opportunity to show their professionalism, enthusiasm and brilliance.

University teams thinking about entering the competition should consider including expertise in petrophysics, geophysics, geology, geomechanics, reservoir, drilling and production engineering, and petroleum economics. It’s a chance to work in an integrated multi-disciplinary team, and to apply technical skills against a business background.

The Challenge has multiple stages to it. Typically, they are: an appraisal of a ‘new venture’ area, with sparse and limited data; a detailed analysis of a specific prospect in the area, with a more comprehensive dataset; and finally a long-term production and development plan for the field(s). Each is reported differently, again mimicking real-world requirements: a written report, an online/ video presentation, and an extended face-to-face seminar/Q&A session at the EAGE Annual.

For the 2019 Laurie Dake Challenge, the dataset will be provided by BP, based on a discovered hydrocarbon resource.

This challenge should not be taken lightly! An expert jury will expect a development plan for the entire life of the field/ reservoir. The plan will need to include (but is not limited to) geophysical analysis and interpretation, structural and depositional models, well log and test analysis, identified flow units, static reservoir models, property modelling, well planning and construction, dynamic reservoir modelling and a forward appraisal (e.g., economics).

How to enter the Laurie Dake Challenge 2019?

Teams should consist of 3-5 students, including at most one PhD student. All further information about the application procedure, and the deliverables required, is available at:

https://students.eage.org/en/lauriedake-challenge, There’s more valuable guidance in an article published in the October 2017 issue of First Break (pp. 12) All submissions will be checked for plagiarism, and will be reviewed by the EAGE Student Affairs Committee. Authors of the 10 best submissions will be selected to work on the second stage: only six of those will get a spot in the finals, and receive three travel grants per team, to go to the 2019 EAGE Annual in London.

Although becoming a finalist is already a great accomplishment, there can be only one winner! That team will not only earn the prestigious Laurie Dake Challenge winner title, but will also receive a €2000 prize, presented on stage during the EAGE opening ceremony. This is high praise indeed and fully merited. In past years, some winning teams were also given the opportunity to meet employees at the offices of the oil company that provided the data set.

We are already looking forward to meeting the best of our student community at next year’s finals in London! Is your university up to the challenge? Could your team earn one of those six spots in the Laurie Dake Challenge finals? Now is the time to enter the Challenge! Please go to https://students.eage.org/en/lauriedake-challenge/how-to-participate Entry applications open on 10 October.

EAGE Student Calendar LAURIE DAKE APPLICATION

ONLINE

1 NOV

STUDENT LECTURE “APPLIED OILFIELD GEOMECHANICS”BY JOERG HERWANGER

FREIBERG, GERMANY

9 NOV

X CONGRESO DE EXPLORACIÓN Y DESARROLLO DE HIDROCARBUROS IAPG - GEOQUIZ

MENDOZA, ARGENTINE KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA

10 OCT

15 NOV

STUDENT LECTURE TOUR APAC

20 NOV

STUDENT LECTURE TOUR EU

BRISTOL, UNITED KINGDOM

21 NOV

36TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITIONS NAPE 2018- GEOQUIZ

LAGOS, NIGERIA

28 NOV

STUDENT LECTURE TOUR EU

KEELE, UNITED KINGDOM

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

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The man who knew so much EAGE’s Laurie Dake Field Challenge is named after an eminent reservoir engineer.

Here’s the full story.

Laurie Dake’s two text books can still be observed sitting beside the workstations of many of today’s reservoir engineers.

Plenty of other professionals in related disciplines will have seen them during informal meetings, often opened on some specific page for reference.

Dake would have appreciated this acknowledgement. He saw his working area as a small but central component of a universe comprising geology, geophysics, economics, petrophysics, reservoir, production, processing, and project engineering. It is precisely this spirit of integration that we are promoting with the annual Laurie Dake Field Challenge competition for students.

Integration is no mean task. For students it is a lesson firstly in focusing on the physical behaviour of the basin or reservoir, and its characterization, The second goal promoted by Laurie Dake himself, was not to blindly rely on mathematical models and their outcome.

These are two key elements in the Challenge named after him.

Laurence Patrick Dake (he preferred to be called Laurie Dake) was born on 11 March 1941 on the Isle of Man. He obtained his university degree in natural philosophy at the University of Glasgow in 1964, then joined Shell as a petroleum engineer. After in-house training, he gained experience in operations in Australia, Brunei, Turkey, and Australia. In 1971 he began training reservoir engineer recruits at the company’s training centre in the Hague. This led to his first text book The Fundamentals of Reservoir Engineering

published by Elsevier. Combining rigorous physics applied through simplified procedures with numerous field examples and applications, the book was a great success.

Its publication in 1978 coincided with Dake’s departure from Shell to join the British National Oil Corporation (BNOC) as chief of reservoir engineering. His work on North Sea reservoirs in the early days of the UK offshore industry was honoured by an Order of

At that time, the fairly new job title of ‘simulation engineer’ had surfaced in the petroleum industry. Characteristically, he wrote: ‘There is no such thing, only […] engineers who happen to have simulation packages at their disposal for use, amongst other tools, as and when required’.

Unfortunately, there would be no third book. During a visit to Australia in 1999, he unexpectedly passed away at the age of only 58. We can only guess what would

Top three teams at the Laurie Dake Challenge 2018.

the British Empire (OBE) for services to UK industry. In 1982, when BNOC was privatized, he left and became an independent consultant in Edinburgh. As such he was one of the most appreciated international consultants to oil companies and banks. In parallel, he became external examiner and later honorary professor with the Petroleum Department of Heriot Watt University.

In 1994 he published a second book The Practice of Reservoir Engineering.

have been the focus of another volume. It would necessarily have addressed the concept of propagating of uncertainty in the calculations. He would have insisted on the importance of physical understanding to avoid turning geoscience and petroleum engineering into a push-button activity with little added value.

Our hope is that students will follow Dake’s exemplary scientific approach when involved in the Field Challenge that bears his name and make him proud.

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.

SUPPORTED BY

SUPPORTED BY

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NEWS RELEASE

Sept 15, 2018. Calgary, Canada.

DTCC announced today over 100,000 channels of SmartSolo have been sold worldwide since the releasing the system October 2016.

For more info, please visit us at SEG18 Anaheim, booth 2631.

CROSSTALK

BY AN D R E W M c BAR N E T

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Fleeting chance of success The saying ‘Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to WavefieldInseis. In 2012, it added the geoscience division of Fugro repeat it’, or words to that effect, are generally attributed to the 20th including seven seismic vessels. Today the newly refinanced comcentury philosopher George Santayana, although Winston Churchill pany operates a modest total of five vessels with speculation that it channelled the same thought in one of his speeches. Although a bit may one day devolve itself entirely from marine seismic operations. clichéd, the sentiment is commonsense advice about the value of These past mergers and acquisitions and others in the marine taking precedent and previous patterns of behaviour into account seismic space have either been defensive consolidation moves, when making decisions. However, what happened in the past should which often happens in a downturn, or bids to steal market share not always be regarded as a prescription for the future in the way through expansion. Both strategies are valid according to business this pithy aphorism implies. Indeed Mark Twain skewered too much school textbooks. However, up to now neither has provided a clear obsession about the lessons of history with his humorous observation long-term winner. that ‘history does not repeat itself, but it often rhymes.’

It is easy with the benefit of hindsight to explain the specific Bearing this in mind, we should be reserving judgment on circumstances that handicapped the success of particular acquisitions whether Shearwater Geophysical’s recent purchase of Schlumbergand mergers. er’s WesternGeco marine seismic acquisition business is a case of Yet that is not the point. There is an explanation for this consistdéjà vu and hence doomed from the start. The expression ‘willing ent history of misfortune, and it cannot be blamed on ‘history’. Over suspension of disbelief’ comes to mind, because unfortunately the several decades marine geophysical companies have been setting marine seismic business has a long record of mergers and takeovers, themselves up against insurmountable odds. It may be playing an arguably none of which have achieved lasting old record, but a predictably cyclical market commercial benefit.

‘There is an explanation as extreme as marine seismic survey acquisiConsider WesternGeco itself. Its pedigree tion makes for a very challenging business for for this consistent was built on legendary seismic vessel operators contractors with a fleet of high capex vessels including Geco, Prakla-Seismos, Merlin Prohistory of misfortune.’ to maintain, whether owned or leased. The filers, Seismograph Service, GSI, Geosource, fluctuations in the price of oil which regularly Halliburton Geophysical Services, Western Atlas, and Western destabilize the marine seismic market are obviously a major risk, Geophysical. Its last significant acquisition was Eastern Echo in but arguably not inevitable. However, all seismic contractors know 2007. All that is left from all that enterprise activity is a package for sure that the entirely predictable E&P spending cycle of oil of seven high-end seismic vessels and three multi-purpose seismic companies will put pressure on the sustainability of their businesses. vessels (MPVs) being sold to Shearwater along with 12 complete Expenditure is weighted first towards seismic exploration and slacks sets of streamers, and two source vessels. With the $600 million deal off as field development becomes the priority. comes WesternGeco’s proprietary technology, notably IsoMetrix, Feast or famine is therefore a given. In addition, the business Q-Marine, and its eSource bandwidth-controlled seismic source, prospects for any contractor have had to accommodate chronic plus development and manufacturing facilities in Norway and over-capacity which market forces have been unable to resolve.

Malaysia.

Aggressive price competition can therefore be expected to be the The CGG story tells a similar tale of company acquisition, norm, and the need to capitalize on the good times is paramount. with a less happy outcome. Its major expansion in the 2000s saw That all may seem doable, but there are other structural forces the company acquire Exploration Resources, Veritas DGC and in play. The marine seismic business has always considered itself a

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CROSSTALK

with our technology and highly skilled people provide significant technology-driven industry. In order to stay competitive, contractors competitive advantage’ is how Shearwater CEO Irene Waag Basili have had to devote capital resources on equipment, notably vessels described the new set-up. and streamers. That outlay has proved to be disproportionate to the Transitioning this perceived advantage into the current market potential customer spend. Sizable if not unmanageable debt has been poses an obvious conundrum, which the company has already the result. implicitly acknowledged. On current planning Shearwater in 2019 is Nor is that the end of the story. Dating back at least to the latenot expected to introduce more than two vessels over and above its 1990s and the big oil company consolidations, the cost of technology existing capacity. This cautious approach makes sense if the familiar research and development (R&D) has been almost entirely devolved grossly over-supplied market is to be avoided. However, it begs the to the service sector. question of how long the company can carry the many idle vessels it As a result, there have been some remarkable advances in has taken on. In addition, although Waag Basili referred to the deal marine seismic acquisition, but with unforeseen consequences. First as the combination of two complimentary businesses, putting them of all, the pace of development has been such that no company together will involve an as yet unquantified cost, plus a management has been able to establish a long term, unassailable lead for a new and technology challenge. technology, before the competition catches up. Broadband seismic Timing could be on Shearwater’s side. If the analysts’ forecasts solutions have been a case in point. are to be believed, E&P spending is set to rise in 2019 and 2020.

Secondly, technology development has always been aimed at How quickly and in what manner this translates into marine seismic making seismic surveys more cost effective, i.e., more bang for spending is less clear. your buck. The customers - oil exploration and multi-client seismic Shearwater, on the other hand, has been very clear what its stratcompanies - have understood the cheaper aspect only too well, egy will be. It has specifically ruled out building its own multi-client have said thank you very much, and successfully avoided paying a data library. Instead it intends to become the preferred provider of premium for the improvements especially in the prevailing low oil marine seismic acquisition services by leverprice environment. aging its fleet size, global reach, technology, Lack of reward for technology advance ‘Transitioning this people, and importantly its currently healthy was of course one of the reasons cited by Schlumberger CEO Paal Kibsgaard for putting perceived advantage balance sheet. With its competitors vulnerable WesternGeco’s seismic acquisition business on into the current market for all the reasons stated by Kibsgaard, Shearwater hopes to end up as the dominant player. the block. Presumably investors in the new poses an obvious With so few marine seismic companies left Shearwater deal took note of Kibsgaard’s full standing, that could just happen. conundrum.’ explanation. He said the unwillingness to ‘pay a The company will be dependent on propremium for differentiated seismic measurement prietary surveys awarded by oil companies, but even more on the and surveys’ indicates customers belief that ‘generic technology and custom of the multi-client survey specialists who have been adept at performance is sufficient.’ In his view this created a low technical exploiting market conditions to keep the costs of their surveys down. barrier for smaller players to enter the segment, which keeps demand In this regard Schlumberger’s agreement to use two Shearwater in a chronic state of over-capacity. vessels for potential multi-client work for only two years after the According to Kibsgaard the challenging commercial environment is ‘clearly reflected in the financial statements of stand-alone deal closing seems modest. It may be a result of Schlumberger’s acquisition players who are either at or close to bankruptcy, heavily awareness that putting its previously owned vessels back in play burdened by weak cash flow and high debt.’ While such stand-alone increases the available worldwide capacity significantly and may acquisition players had no other choice than to stay in and fight on well put downward pressure on survey prices. In other words, the to avoid bankruptcy while hoping for a better future, Kibsgaard company will want to shop around for the best vessel deal. Again acknowledged Schlumberger did have a choice. The company chose it is the scenario of the lowest cost provider wins, for which to exit what he referred to as the ‘commoditized land and marine Shearwater will need to be prepared. acquisition business.’

The company will also have to respond to the increasing oil The extraordinary challenge facing Shearwater is to make a go company and multi-client company interest in seabed seismic of the business which a disillusioned Schlumberger has very publicly surveys. It is inheriting WesternGeco’s proprietary Q-Seabed and walked away from. It will be operating without the benefits of being hybrid strategy using towed streamers and seabed node recording resourced by the largest oilfield services company in the world. This on the same survey, but R&D expenditure would seem to be is presumably one reason why an extra $50 million has been thrown required to keep up with this rapidly evolving technology. in for working capital.

For the time being we should just leave Shearwater to builds ‘We will have a strong balance sheet with the sector’s lowest its history at what could be a turning point in how the marine loan-to-value ratio and a leading cost position, which together seismic business continues to operate.

Views expressed in Crosstalk are solely those of the author, who can be contacted at andrew@andrewmcbarnet.com.

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Acquisition

Imaging

Geoscience

Exceptional Results Through Integrated Expertize

Solving complex exploration challenges requires integrated thinking. Our geoscience experts collaborate during planning, acquisition and processing. The resulting images provide subsurface insights you can rely on.

Make exploration decisions more confidently.

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HIGHLIGHTS

INDUSTRY NEWS

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NPD conducts first seabed mapping for minerals

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Norway awards carbon capture project

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CGG to open imaging centre in Malaysia

Shearwater buys WesternGeco for $600 million Shearwater GeoServices has agreed to acquire the marine seismic acquisition assets and operations of WesternGeco for $600 million in a bid to create an ‘industry-leading geophysical company’.

Shearwater will operate Amazon Warrior.

Shearwater will own and operate a fleet of 14 fully equipped seismic vessels offering 3D and 4D acquisition services along with ocean bottom seismic (OBS).

It will continue to develop and offer high-quality processing and imaging services and Reveal software. The company will also have a portfolio of proprietary streamer technology and processing software.

Under the terms of the agreement, Shearwater will acquire 10 seismic acquisition vessels, including seven 3D vessels and three multi-purpose vessels (MPVs) configured to serve the growing OBS market, 12 complete streamer sets with

spares, as well as two source vessels.

The proposed transaction also includes WesternGeco proprietary marine seismic technology, as well as development and manufacturing facilities in Norway and Malaysia.

Schlumberger will receive $600 million in cash plus a 15% post-closing equity interest in Shearwater GeoServices. In addition, Schlumberger will for a limited period, be entitled to payments under an earn-out agreement linked to future vessel usage over and above specific thresholds.

To ensure a more robust financial platform, an additional $50 million of cash will be injected in Shearwater GeoServices for working capital purposes.

‘We will combine two strong complementary businesses and create an industry-leading full-service geophysical company with a solid financial and strategic platform,’ said Irene Waage Basili, CEO, Shearwater. ‘Our strategy has been to build a stronger company during the downturn, and we are very pleased to see the commitment made by our owners, which enables this transaction.’

After completion of the deal, Shearwater will have close to 600 employees and operate in all major offshore basins around the world.

‘Our customers will benefit from our expansion as a full-service provider that has critical mass, global reach and longterm viability. We intend to grow, and we are committed to investing in technology FIRST

and people,’ said Basili. ‘We will have a strong balance sheet with the sector’s lowest loan-to-value ratio and a leading cost position, which together with our technology and highly skilled people provide significant competitive advantages.’

Maurice Nessim, president, WesternGeco, added: ‘With the divestiture of our marine seismic acquisition business, WesternGeco will be strategically positioned as one of the largest asset-light geophysical services providers in the oil and gas industry. Through access to the industry’s global marine fleet, including Shearwater’s vessels, we will continue to provide our customers with exploration and discovery services that leverage our leading global multi-client library, advanced seismic imaging and interpretation services, with the aim of helping to accelerate hydrocarbon discovery.’

Shearwater’s investment will be funded by $325 million in new cash equity and $325 million in debt financing.

Rasmussengruppen has fully underwritten the equity issue and GC Rieber Shipping intends to subscribe for $28 million. The debt financing will be provided by DNB Bank and Sparebank 1 SR-Bank.

Under the terms of the agreement, Schlumberger will have an option to utilize two vessels from Shearwater on potential multi-client work for the first two years after closing the transaction.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Equinor creates Brazil business division Equinor has established Development and Production Brazil as a separate business area, reflecting the company’s daily oil production of more than 90,000 barrels per day from current fields and with expected investments of more than $15 billion until 2030.

‘We have been building a presence in Brazil since 2001, and we have been able to establish a broad energy portfolio in the country. With around $10 billion already invested, and more than $15 billion expected to be invested until 2030, we show how we are working to create value for both Brazil and Equinor,’ said Anders Opedal, executive vice-president for Development and Production Brazil in Equinor.

Equinor’s assets in Brazil include the producing Peregrino field and the second phase of that project that is due to come on stream in 2020, a 25% share in the giant Roncador field, and the significant pre-salt discoveries of Carcará and Pão de Açúcar.

In 2017 Equinor also joined as a partner in the Apodi solar project, which will deliver energy to 160,000 households by end of this year.

‘We have a portfolio with the potential to produce between 300,000 and 500,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2030, depending on phasing of projects and exploration success. Owing to our operatorship of Peregrino, we have built a competent organization that will be important for developing our coming projects and putting them into production,’ added Opedal.

Equinor in Brazil also has an ambition to further explore for growth within

renewable energy and new natural gas value chains.

Over the last year Equinor has actively participated in new offshore licensing rounds, gaining access to significant acreage across the Santos and Campos basins.

‘We are excited about the exploration portfolio in Brazil. We have been very successful in recent bidding rounds,’ said Tim Dodson, executive vice president for Exploration in Equinor. ‘There is always uncertainty in exploration, but this is a proven and prolific oil province with many large discoveries in the last decade.

Over the next two years we expect to drill up to five high impact wells in the Campos and Santos basins, with potential comparable to some of the giants that shaped the Norwegian Continental Shelf in the 1970s and 1980s.’

Equinor is currently drilling the Guanxuma well in the BM-S-8 licence.

This has been declared as an oil discovery

by Brazilian regulator ANP. Good quality oil has been discovered in a carbonate reservoir. However, uncertainties remain over reservoir properties, and more work is needed to clarify the discovery potential.

CNOOC reports strong first half profit Chinese state-owned oil and gas company China National Offshore Oil Corp’s (CNOOC) profits have climbed 57% year-on-year in the first half of 2018, boosted by higher crude oil prices and robust gas sales.

Net profit at the listed arm of CNOOC hit $3.71 billion in the first half, the company’s best half-year per-

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formance since the first six months of 2015.

Revenue from January to June rose to $115 billion, CNOOC said, with oil and gas sales up more than 20%.

Crude oil output from domestic oil fields fell to 128 million barrels in the first half from 134 million barrels in the same period of 2017. Natural gas production,

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however, rose 11% over the six months compared with the same period of 2017, CNOOC said.

CNOOC maintained its outlook for full-year capital expenditure of $10.311.75 billion, though capital spending in the first half totalled only $3.1 billion. The company vowed to accelerate spending in the second half.

INDUSTRY NEWS

US hails success of onshore and offshore bid rounds The US Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) third-quarter oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico has broken records by grossing nearly $1 billion in bonus bids for 142 parcels.

The two-day sale brought in $972,483,619.50, more than all the BLM oil and gas sales in 2017 combined and surpassed BLM’s previous largest sale year in 2008, which generated $408,631,537.

The first day of the sale also resulted in a national record for the highest bid for a single parcel, and the highest per-acre bid ever placed. The winning bid for a 1240acre parcel in Eddy County was $81,889 per acre, bringing in more than $101.5 million. The previous record for a single parcel was $76,680,000, set in September 2016 in New Mexico. The previous record for a peracre bid was $40,001 set in New Mexico in December 2017.

Meanwhile, deputy secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt has announced that region-wide Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale 251 generated $178,069,406 in high bids for 144 tracts covering 801,288 acres in Federal waters of the Gulf of Mexico. A total of 29 companies participated in the lease sale, submitting $202,667,923 in bids.

Lease Sale 251 was the third offshore sale held under the 2017-2022 Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Programme (2017-2022 OCS Programme).

Under this programme, ten region-wide

lease sales are scheduled for the Gulf.

Two Gulf lease sales will be held each year and include all available blocks in the combined Western, Central, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Areas.

‘Many of the blocks offered at today’s sale have been offered many times before,’ said principal deputy assistant secretary Kate MacGregor.

‘Today’s results demonstrate a steady interest as serious innovation and engineering continues to unlock new energy resources deep below the seabed.’

In January, Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced a draft proposed programme for a new National OCS Programme for 2019-2024. After considering all public comments received in response, BOEM will develop and publish a proposed programme for public comment later this year, followed by the final programme expected in 2019.

BOEM will continue to implement the 2017-2022 OCS Programme until the new National OCS Programme is approved.

Lease Sale 251 included 14,622 unleased blocks, located from 3 (4.8 km) to 231 miles (372 km) offshore, in the Gulf’s Western, Central and Eastern Planning Areas in water depths ranging from nine to more than 11,115 ft (3 to 3400 m).

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Equatorial Guinea promises 2019 licensing round Equatorial Guinea will launch a new oil and gas exploration bidding round early next year in both onshore and in ultradeep waters and may refuse extensions of existing licences to oil companies unless they collectively invest a minimum of $2 billion in the country.

Oil minister Gabriel Obiang Lima said the licence extensions, which would be negotiated could impact operations by ExxonMobil, Kosmos Energy, Marathon Oil, and Noble Energy.

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‘We expect all of them to have an understanding that we do want serious investment in activities and if that is not happening ... some of the extensions they will be asking for will not be handed over,‘ said Obiang Lima.

‘The objective is that we have a large amount of foreign direct investment in the country. A minimum of $2 billion must be invested across the entire industry, from operating, management and drilling,’ he added.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Wintershall plans big investment on NCS Wintershall has announced plans to invest €2 billion ($2.35 billion) in exploring and developing its fields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf from 2017 to 2020.

More than a third of Wintershall’s global exploration budget will be used in Norway. ‘Wintershall already holds over 50 licenses in Norway. We believe in the potential of the Norwegian Shelf. Here we also see one of our core production areas in the long term,’ said Martin Bachmann, Wintershall executive board member responsible for exploration and production in Europe and the Middle East.

‘For 2019 alone, we’re planning four new exploration wells. The execution phase for the Nova project already started in early summer and plans for a possible development of our Balderbrå prospect

are also progressing. We expect a further increase in our production volume with the start of Aasta Hansteen before the end of the year.’

Hugo Dijkgraaf, managing director of Wintershall Norge, said that Wintershall plans to develop the Nova field using two subsea templates. Wintershall and its partners expect to invest a total volume of around €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the development of Nova. The recoverable reserves from the field are estimated to be around 80 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Once the proposed merger of Wintershall and DEA is completed, the new Wintershall DEA company would be among the top five oil and gas producers in Norway. ‘With more than 100 licences and shares in 20 producing fields, we

could increase our joint production in Norway to over 200,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the near future,’ said Mario Mehren, Wintershall CEO. The stable and reliable energy partnerships with Norway and Russia will become even more important for Europe in the future, he added. ‘Take for example gas. Demand in the EU is rising, but domestic production is declining. In 2030, for example, the EU will have to import around 400 billion cubic metres of natural gas. Nord Stream 2, for example, will provide an additional capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas when it is completed. Natural gas is also making a significant contribution to Germany and Europe’s energy transition and to reducing CO2 emissions.’

Equinor unveils plans for growth in the Norwegian Continental Shelf Equinor has presented plans for transforming the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) for continued high value creation after current profitable production levels wind down after 2030.

Over the coming decades Equinor plans to drill up to 3000 production and exploration wells. This is almost as many wells as the company has drilled since it was established close to 50 years ago.

The drilling will yield ripple effects by utilizing existing fields, pipelines, bases and onshore facilities along the entire coast of Norway.

The company’s plans for the next decades also call for a lifetime extension of more than 20 fields. The production lifetime of Equinor’s NCS fields is already two to three times longer than assumed in original plans, the company said.

The plan is to drill around 20-30 exploration wells every year for the coming years.

‘The likelihood of discovery in these wells will be lower than in other targets, but we see it as necessary to regularly test a few of what we call “game changing 20

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wells” in order to explore the NCS to its full potential,’ said Tim Dodson, executive vice president for exploration.

Equinor also unveiled plans to power the Gullfaks and Snorre fields with the world’s first floating offshore wind turbines. The industry’s NOx fund is providing up to $67 million in investment support for the project.

Equinor also intends to remove every fourth gas turbine on the NCS platforms through energy efficiency and electrification in the years to come.

Up to 2020 Equinor expects to invest $240 million in digital technology. This year Equinor is opening two new digital support centres that will help increase NCS production.

Rapid development in areas such as robotics, drones and use of 3D will ensure safer and more efficient field developments going forward.

‘In the future we will also build lighter and smaller installations that can be unmanned, robotized and remotely controlled from land. This will create higher value in the form of new activity, reduced costs and higher income

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while contributing to reduced CO2 emissions,’ said Margareth Øvrum, executive vice president for technology, projects and drilling.

Equinor’s said that its plans call for new skilled workers. In 2030 around half of today’s Equinor employees will have retired.

‘We will do our part in supplying the energy and products that the world needs, while at the same time contributing to solving the climate challenge. I believe that this is a challenge that appeals to young people, and we can offer them this opportunity,’ said Arne Sigve Nylund.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted consent for the start-up of the Aasta Hansteen facility in the Norwegian Sea. Equinor plans to start production during the course of autumn 2018.

Equinor estimates the expected recoverable reserves for Aasta Hansteen, including Snefrid Nord, at 55.6 billion standard cubic metres (Sm3) gas and 0.6 million Sm3 condensate. Its investment in the field is estimated at $4.45 billion.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Fugro wins seabed mapping contract offshore Norway Fugro has won a $5.3 million contract for a seabed mapping survey from the Norwegian Hydrographic Service.

In water depths from 80 m to 1700 m, the survey area of approx. 14,500 km2 is located between the Norwegian Sea, the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean.

Fugro’s equipment on the survey vessels, including MV Victor Hensen and MV Fugro Gauss, will collect high-resolution, high-density multi-beam echo sounder data, together with sub-bottom and gravity meter data, to gather marine knowledge for the Norwegian mapping programme.

The fieldwork is scheduled from June to November this year.

The main objective of the survey is to collect seamless, high-quality datasets between bathymetry and acoustic backscatter. To achieve this, Fugro is deploying sensors and adopting advanced calibration techniques and oceanographic measurement workflows designed for this challenging environment. It is also utilizing online monitoring QC and post-processing workflows.

The survey is part of the MAREANO seabed mapping programme, which is financed by Norway’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Climate and Environment. Fugro has completed numerous surveys for the pro-

MV Fugro Gauss will be one of the vessels collecting data.

gramme since 2006, collecting more than 100,000 km2 of data.

Dr Marco Filippone, chief hydrographer at Fugro, said: ‘Over the last 12 years we have deployed our specialist multi-beam echosounder equipment and applied our IHO certified hydrographers’ expertise on several surveys for the Norwegian Hydrographic Service under this programme. It is very gratifying to be able to deliver continuous development in line with their objectives and expectations.’

With part of the survey area located above 80 degrees latitude, there is an opportunity for Fugro to test the ‘Ice Pad’ solution from MARSAT, the consortium

developing services for the maritime and coastal industry.

Collecting the most recent information on ice coverage will assist the MARSAT project to support voyage planning and tactical navigation in limited bandwidth conditions, typically at higher latitudes.

This year Fugro is introducing the GEBCO Seabed 2030 project, the global initiative to produce a high-resolution map of the world’s ocean floor by the year 2030. To date Fugro has donated almost 100,000 km2 of bathymetric data, collected during transits to and from global survey areas, to Seabed 2030, and aims to boost this contribution with transit data from the MAREANO programme.

Green light given for geothermal test site underneath Glasgow Glasgow City Council and the South Lanarkshire Council in Scotland have approved the construction of the $11.7 million Glasgow Geothermal Energy Research Field Site.

The project proposed by the Natural Environment Research Council and the British Geological Survey will create a research hub on the eastern side of Scotland’s largest city, where coal mines once operated. The idea is for scientists to focus on exploring if old coal mines can generate low-carbon heat for domestic use.

Experts working at the facility will have to drill narrow boreholes into the ground and use sensors to measure the temperature, water flow and seismic activity in the disused mine tunnels. This information, which will feed into an online, open-access database, will allow scientists to determine whether the warm water could be used for renewable energy to heat the city.

This initial study at the Geothermal Field Site is expected to be carried out for at least 15 years. It will also measure near-surface chemistry, gases and waters.

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‘One of our biggest climate change challenges is how to decarbonize our heat,’ said Zoe Shipton, professor of geological engineering at the University of Strathclyde and chair of the Science Advisory Group for the observatories.

‘The research at the UK Geoenergy Observatory in Glasgow will contribute a vital body of evidence on what the potential solutions are and how to do them safely and with minimal impact on the environment.’

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INDUSTRY NEWS

NPD conducts first seabed mapping for minerals The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has concluded a successful threeweek data acquisition expedition for mineral resources on the Mohn’s ridge in the western part of the Norwegian Sea.

AUVs are mapping the seabed.

The Mohn’s ridge is a seafloor spreading ridge, separating two oceanic plates, and the objective of the expedition was to investigate the possible existence of mineral resource deposits in this area. The NPD has identified a large area of sulphide minerals. The deposits

could include important industrial metals such as copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, vanadium, wolfram and silver.

The NPD surveyed an area of 90 km x 35 km centrally located over the spreading ridge, where water depths vary between 1200 and 3500 m. The expedition was conducted with the Seabed Worker vessel, which is owned by Swire Seabed.

The mapping was carried out using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV), Kongsberg Hugin, which mapped the seabed in long corridors, totalling 750 km. The AUV was equipped with several sensors, including seabed penetrating echo sounders. Other types of data collected include multi-beam bathymetry, synthetic aperture sonar data, magnetometry and spontaneous potential field data. The AUV was operated by Ocean Floor Geophysics.

NPD geologist Jan Stenløkk said: ‘Areas where these data indicated possible mineral deposits were examined using a remote operated vehicle and large volumes of photo and video material were acquired. A number of mineral samples were also collected.’

The seawater penetrates deep into the seabed, is heated to more than 400 degrees by underlying magma chambers, and dissolves many minerals. The warm seawater is flushed back out to the sea-

bed through so-called ‘black smokers’ where the minerals are precipitated in contact with the cold seawater. When the magma chambers shift owing to the spreading between the plates, the flushing of the warm water stops, and the black smokers collapse and ultimately end up as piles of gravel on the seabed.

The new area of sulphide minerals that was discovered contains many such piles of gravel and collapsed black smokers, including a 26m-high, non-active tower, in addition to some active systems. The mineral samples taken from these piles of gravel will now undergo several analyses. All mapping data from the AUV sensors will also be processed and interpreted.

NPD exploration director Torgeir Stordal said that the authorities are very satisfied with the result of this year’s expedition, which is the first mineral expedition operated by the NPD. ‘We have found a completely new deposit.

We have also tested a number of measurement and mapping techniques that will be useful in future data.’

The NPD has been assigned the task of proving and mapping deep sea minerals after the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy was given administrative responsibility for mineral deposits on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Denmark becomes net importer of oil Denmark is this year expected to become a net importer of oil according to the latest forecast from the Danish Energy Agency. However, Denmark is still expected to remain a net exporter of gas until 2035.

Since 1993, Denmark has been a net exporter of oil and gas. Except for 2024, the Danish consumption of oil is expected to exceed the amount that it produces in the Danish part of the North Sea.

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The change in the production forecast for oil stems from an 8% reduction compared to last year’s forecast. Furthermore, the start date for several fields and discoveries are expected to be postponed and the reconstruction of Tyra facilities will result in a decrease in oil production in 2020 and 2021. As of 1 January, 2018 reserves and contingent resources amounted in total to 139 million m3 oil corresponding to 18 years of oil consumption.

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Denmark is expected to continue to be a net exporter of gas until 2035, except for the years 2020 and 2021 when a significant decline in gas production is expected as a result of the planned reconstruction of the Tyra facilities in the Danish North Sea. As of 1 January, 2018, reserves and contingent resources amounted to 72 billion Nm3 gas corresponding to 30 years of gas consumption.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Wood Mackenzie figures point to ‘mini boom’ in UK North Sea The UK North Sea has enjoyed a ‘miniboom’ in final investment decisions (FIDs), according to figures from the energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

Ten projects have been sanctioned so far this year, and there is potential for another six before the end of December, according to the consultancy’s latest figures.

Shell set the ball rolling with the Penguins redevelopment, and has also given Fram the all clear. BP has taken FID on the Vorlich and Alligin fields and Nexen Petroleum is pushing ahead with Buzzard phase two.

Premier Oil has sanctioned the Tolmount field, while Tailwind approved the Gannet field, Marathon Oil the West Brae field, Apace the Garten Field and Total the Ballindalloch field.

Wood Mackenzie also identified eight potential FIDs for 2019 Malcolm Dickson, a research director at Wood Mackenzie, said the UK’s record was encouraging because although the projects are relatively small, they are still profitable.

Siccar Point Energy’s Cambo well, recently drilled west of Shetland, is an example of the sort of project that could significantly boost confidence in the North Sea, according to Dickson.

‘Cambo seems to have been a reasonable success for Siccar Point, and they’re now going to drill Lyon. These wells can change the opinion of a market and bring a lot of value.’

However, Dickson also warned of a lack of new field development opportunities beyond 2020 in the UK and Norway, caused by a lack of exploration during the downturn. Exploration is still low in the UK by historic standards, but operators are focusing on quality rather than quantity, he said.

Dickson said that the UK Oil and Gas Authority’s effectiveness was highlighted during the 30th offshore licensing round when 123 licences were offered to 61 companies on 23 May, when firm commitments were made for eight exploration or appraisal wells, nine new 3D seismic surveys, while 14 licences progressed straight to field development planning.

Dickson also said the appearance of new, private-equity-backed operators, such as Chrysaor, Neptune Energy and Siccar Point, was ‘fascinating’ at a time when many majors appear keen to reduce their North Sea interests.

‘Private equity wants to invest and they are very focused on growth. There has been a massive amount of spending on assets from these companies. They are bringing new ideas and money to assets.

‘To have a situation where companies are buying assets and looking to drill exciting new wells is a real turnaround.

A more stable tax regime and a more positive regulator has been conducive to investment.’

Fugro completes seep hunting programme offshore Canada Fugro has completed the geophysical acquisition of a 2018 Carson Basin seep hunting programme offshore eastern Canada, ahead of the Newfoundland and Labrador licensing round next year.

The programme covers 18,875 km2 in water depths of 300 to 3300 m in a frontier region offshore Newfoundland. From its deepwater survey vessel, Fugro Searcher, Fugro acquired multi-beam echosounder data (bathymetry, backscatter intensity and water column) and sub-bottom profiler data. The data were used to interpret geologic features and optimize target selection for geochemical sampling and heat flow measurements.

The second part of the programme – coring for geochemical sampling, ship-

board geochemical screening analyses and heat flow measurements – was due to start in August. Shore-based, advanced geochemical analyses, including isotopes and biomarkers on selected samples, will be co-ordinated by Amplified Geochemical Imaging.

Highlighting the successful licensing of Fugro’s nearby Orphan Basin dataset from the 2017 programme, Steve Carter, Fugro’s multi-client data licensing manager, also cited oil finds in the area and expressions of interest by several companies in this year’s programme as indicators that the oil and gas industry is rebounding.

The data package and final, integrated report will be available in early 2019; these will help oil companies to evaluate lease FIRST

options for Newfoundland and Labrador’s 2019 licensing round later that year.

Further investigations by Fugro will establish environmental baselines and habitat mapping, evaluating seafloor geohazards, and preliminary planning for field development.

The data is optimizing target selection for geochemical sampling.

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TGS and Fairfield Geotechnologies start onshore survey in New Mexico TGS is carrying out its latest multi-client project in the Delaware Basin, Quail Ridge East, New Mexico in partnership with Fairfield Geotechnologies.

The Quail Ridge East 3D survey is optimally located on the north flank of the Delaware Basin, extending TGS’ current data portfolio to cover a minimum of 330 km2 in Western Lea County, New Mexico. The area has proven production from multiple stacked zones including the prolific Delaware Sands, the Avalon, the Bone Spring, the Wolfcamp A through D and the Strawn-Atoka.

The TGS-Fairfield Geotechnologies collaboration in their ‘area of mutual

interest’ (AMI) extends across the north half and east side of Lea County and into the west side of Winkler County, Texas, covering an area of 5179 km2 bordering TGS’ West Kermit 3D survey to the south. The Quail Ridge East 3D covers areas of prospectivity along the basin flank and on the central platform and northwest shelf. There is proven production in this region from multiple zones with high-resolution seismic opening renewed structural play potential, said TGS. The Quail Ridge East 3D survey, together with the future opportunities with Fairfield Geotechnologies under the AMI,

India launches Discovered Small Fields round

Exploration round-up

India has launched the second round of bidding for its Discovered Small Fields (DSF).

‘Under this round, 25 contract areas covering 59 discovered oil and gas fields spread over 3000 km2 and with known volumes of 190 MMT or 1.4 billion barrels oil and oil equivalent are up for bidding,’ said Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

Of the 25 contract areas on offer, 15 are onland fields and 10 are shallow offshore areas. There are six onland fields in Assam and Tripura, four onland fields each in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat and one in Rajasthan. Offshore Mumbai has six shallow-water areas, KG Offshore two, and there is one each offshore Mahanadi and offshore Kutch.

The first round of bidding for DSF in 2016 had generated 134 bids for 34 contract areas. Thirty contracts were awarded and 13 companies entered India’s oil and gas industry for the first time.

Bidding on the second round will continue until December 18.

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build upon TGS’ three existing surveys in the region and aim to bridge the gap between the Delaware and Central Basin Platform.

Acquisition on the Quail Ridge East survey is being performed by Dawson Geophysical. Data will be processed by TGS utilizing and preliminary data will be available in Q2 2019.

The 735 km2 survey has been designed with denser node coverage and tighter vibrator spacing to provide densely sampled and high-fold subsurface coverage.

Fairfield Geotechnologies anticipates a reduction in overall processing time owing to a recent transition to cloud computing.

development with three horizontal wells targeting the lower Eagle Ford formation, with expected lateral lengths of about 7500 ft (2286 m).

ExxonMobil has started an $88 million drilling off Australia’s southeast coast to search for new sources of natural gas.

Meanwhile, the company has made its ninth discovery offshore Guyana at the Hammerhead-1 well.

Norwegian oil company Aker Energy will delay submitting a plan for development of its block offshore Ghana until early next year in order to first complete appraisal drilling, expected to start in October.

Eni has announced a gas discovery in the Faramid South prospect in the Egyptian Western Desert. The discovery is located in the East Obayed concession. The well reached the target depth of 17,000 ft (5182 m) and encountered several gas-bearing layers in the Kathabta sandstones of Jurassic age.

Freedom Oil & Gas has started drilling on its Eagle Ford shale acreage in Dimmit County, Texas. The company is moving forward with further horizontal well OCTOBER

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Uganda’s national oil company has signed an agreement with China’s CNOOC to conduct exploration in a new block in the East African country.

Carnarvon Petroleum has discovered 171 million barrels of oil in its block WA-437-P in the Dorado structure in the northwest shelf, offshore Western Australia.

Melbana Energy has received final permission to drill the Alameda-1 exploration well offshore Cuba.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Equinor drilling permits for wildcat well 6407/11-1 in production licence PL 751, 17 km southwest of the Njord field. It has also given permission for wilcat well 6406/2-9 S in production licence PL 199, 7 km south of the Kristin field.

The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate has granted Mol Norge a drilling permit for wildcat well 2/6-6 S in production licence PL 860, 40 km northeast of the Valhall field.

INDUSTRY NEWS

Norway awards carbon capture project

The CO2 storage consortium has taken its name from the Northern Lights.

The Northern Lights consortium of Equinor, Shell and Total have submitted an application for injection and storage of carbon dioxide at a subsea reservoir offshore Norway.

This is the first time the Norwegian authorities have announced a licensing round for injection and storage of CO2.

Equinor and its partners in the Northern Lights project were the only applicant.

‘We look forward to the further dialogue with the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate about this project through the autumn,’ says Per Gunnar Stavland, authority relations, Northern Lights.

The propose storage project will capture CO2 from three onshore industrial facilities in eastern Norway and transport CO2 by ship from the capture area to a receiving plant onshore located on the west coast of Norway. At the receiving plant CO2 will be pumped over from the ship to tanks onshore, prior to being sent through pipelines on the seabed to several injection wells east of the Troll field on the NCS. On 5 July, the Norwegian authorities announced the area where it wanted to develop a CO2 storage project. State secretary Ingvil Smines Tybring-Gjedde said then that the announcement was a step on the way to the Norwegian government’s ambitions for full-scale CO2 capture and storage in Norway.

‘In a similar manner as with the award of production licences, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate will evaluate the geotechnical work and provide advice to the ministry prior to an award,’ said Wenche Tjelta Johansen, assistant director in exploration in the NPD.

Echo signs deal for 3D survey onshore Argentina

Echo Energy has signed a contract for the acquisition of 3D seismic data over several leads on the company’s Tapi Aike, Fraccíon C, and Fraccíon D assets, onshore Argentina.

In partnership with Compania General de Combustibles (CGC), Echo has commissioned UGA Seismic to shoot 1960 km2 of 3D seismic data. UGA will mobilize to Tapi Aike in November 2018, followed by Fraccíon C and Fraccíon D with the acquisition pro-

gramme expected to complete in Q2 2019.

Tapi Aike already benefits from extensive 2D seismic data along with three interpreted gas discoveries in the area. At least three independent exploration plays have been identified within the Tapi Aike licensing area and these will be targeted with 1200 km2 of new 3D seismic designed to derisk the drilling of four prospective exploration wells during the first exploration phase expected to commence in 2019.

Up to 41 leads have already been identified at Tapi Aike, each typically with gross prospective resources of 50-600 Bcf at the best estimate, and total aggregated unrisked gas originally in place in excess of 22 Tcf. Fiona MacAulay, chief executive officer of Echo, said: ‘We are very pleased to have been able to finalize the contract award for seismic acquisition FIRST

with UGA Seismic, a renowned Argentinian operator and part of the South American seismic group of companies.

The negotiation of the competitively priced contract has provided us with significant cost savings against our originally forecast budget and means that we will be able to shoot the entire committed seismic in one of our most exciting licence areas over the next few months.’

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Spectrum study reveals prospectivity offshore Gabon Sectrum has completed an extensive hydrocarbon prospectivity review offshore north Gabon.

The company has used 5500 km2 of 3D seismic data, recently acquired to image the deep syn-rift units and to provide a regional framework for the traditional postrift hydrocarbon plays.

Two major petroleum systems are present with source rocks and reservoirs distributed in the pre-salt syn-rift sequences and in several post-rift sequences. Each petroleum system is characterized by various source rocks, reservoirs and trapping mechanisms.

The Nyonie Deep Gas Discovery has proven reservoir properties in the pre-salt

section syn-rift sections of Gamba Sands and Dentale Fms. Oil-bearing targets are known in the clastic and calcareous deposits of the Late Cretaceous period.

In the syn-rift, mostly lacustrine source rocks are expected to be oil-generative from the end of the Cretaceous and Paleogene period, or even later in the case of a burial less than 3-4 km. Post-rift units have a number of marine source rocks, pushed into an early oil window from the Paleogene and during the Neogene period, mostly as result of their close proximity to highly conductive salt bodies.

Regional extensional faults show an echelon trend with strike direction between

N-S and NW-SE, generating large structural closures at the base salt level, potentially over 150-200 km2, clearly visible in the initial stages of the time processing, and expected to be fully imaged by the end of the depth migration exercise. Salt withdrawal occurred mainly during the Late Cretaceous-Paleogene period, controlling the deposition of the post-rift sequences, which are organized in a variety of structural and stratigraphic traps, most of which remain untested.

Finally, the proper imaging of subsalt traps is expected to uncover potential hydrocarbon resources, economically attractive and overlooked from the past exploration.

Sound Energy completes 2D survey in Morocco Sound Energy has completed a 2850 km 2D seismic acquisition programme in Eastern Morocco on budget and with zero lost time incidents.

The acquisition of the new seismic data coupled with the basin modelling has enabled the company to increase its understanding of the TAGI structural play, the deeper Palaeozoic potential and the hydrocarbon charge model. The company continues to believe that the gas charge

originates from carbonate-rich marine source rocks, interpreted as of Devonian age in a kitchen area in the central and southern region of the combined Tendrara-Lakbir, Matarka and Anoual permits.

The new seismic data has also now revealed, in addition to the existing structures targeted by the planned wells, a new large Palaeozoic structure to the north west of the structural-stratigraphic play. It

is believed that the hydrocarbon migration pathways converge into this Palaeozoic structure (essentially a palaeo-high into which the TAGI reservoir pinches out) which, if correct, could be the largest prospect within the entire basin.

The company will include this opportunity as another candidate for the planned third exploration well (TE-11), alongside the significant Palaeozoic oil play in the Anoual licence.

Brazil approves companies to bid for pre-salt blocks Brazil’s oil industry regulator ANP has approved six energy companies to bid for four pre-salt blocks in the Campos and Santos Basins that were due to be auctioned on 28 Sept.

The companies are Shell, Total, BP, DEA, QPI from Qatar and Chinese-owned CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás. The fifth pre-salt round is the last chance for oil companies to lock in stakes in Brazil’s coveted offshore oil deposits before the country’s October presidential 26

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elections, after which the rules for future oil auctions could change.

Meanwhile, a Brazilian auction of rights to develop additional oil-producing areas in the country’s so-called ’transferof-rights region’ is unlikely this year, said Brazil’s Deputy Mining and Energy Minister Marcio Felix.

The government in 2010 transferred to state-run oil company Petrobras rights to extract 5 billion barrels of oil and gas in the offshore Santos Basin, at a value based

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on oil prices at the time. The volumes are now estimated to be much larger, and the government wants to sell the rights to extract the extra oil.

The reserves cannot be auctioned off until the government and Petrobras reach a deal over the disputed value of the area. Brazil’s Senate also has to approve legislation already passed the lower house, allowing Petrobras to cede up to a 70% stake of the area to other oil companies.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Ineos granted permission to drill shale well in UK’s East Midlands

The UK Planning Inspectorate has granted Ineos permission to drill a vertical exploratory core well on land off Bramley Moor Lane, Derbyshire, in the UK’s East Midlands, in order to extract rock samples for testing to see if it is viable to extract gas.

The decision means that fracking could eventually take place depending on the outcome of the testing.

An eight-day inquiry was held in June where inspector Elizabeth Hill heard evidence from Ineos and those campaign-

BRIEFS Eni has acquired 124 exploration leases (a total of approx. 350,000 acres) onshore in the Eastern North Slope of Alaska from Caelus Alaska Exploration Company. The Eastern Exploration Area (EEA) is located to the south-east of the giant Prudhoe Bay oilfield, close to existing infrastructures and to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS).The EEA is located between two of the largest hydrocarbon discoveries in North America (Prudhoe Bay and Point Thompson).

ing against the proposals, including local group Eckington Against Fracking, which has raised issues such as impact on the green belt, highways and noise.

In her report Hill concluded: ‘I have found that there would be slight harm in terms of the living conditions of neighbouring occupiers, in terms of night-time noise, to which I give limited weight.

However, this would not outweigh the benefits of the exploration in terms of its potential to improve resources for energy supplies to which I give substantial weight.’

Ineos said in a statement: ‘The permission allows for the drilling of a single vertical core well to gain scientific knowledge of what is below the surface – as has been agreed by many councils many times in the past to support the coal industry in the region. Ineos Shale hopes that this case will set a precedent for timely decisions on future applications based upon the facts. A fully fledged shale industry can be a huge boost to the UK, providing jobs, investment and secure energy.’

Seabed Geosolutions has secured an extension to recently awarded 4D ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic monitoring surveys over multiple oil and gas fields in the US Gulf of Mexico. The additional surveys by the joint venture between Fugro (60%) and CGG (40%) will increase the total duration to around five months for the CASE Abyss ocean bottom node crew and the Hugin Explorer vessel.

Polarcus has won on a contract for a 3D marine seismic acquisition project in West Africa.The project duration is approx. three months and was expected to launch in September 2018. As a result of this award, the Polarcus fleet is 100% booked for Q3 2018 and 85% booked for Q4 2018.

Norway lists 38 applicants for APA 2018 Norways’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has received 38 applications for new exploration acreage in its Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) 2018 licensing round.

The companies that have applied are: Aker BP, Shell, Capricorn, Chrysaor, Concedo, ConocoPhillips, DEA, DNO, Dyas, Edison, Eni, Equinor Energy, Faroe Petroleum, Idemitsu Petroleum, Ineos E&P, Inpex, Lime Petroleum, Lundin Norway, M Vest Energy, MOL, Neptune Energy, OKEA , OMV, Pandion Energy, Petrolia NOCO, PGNiG Upstream, Point Resources, Repsol, RN Nordic Oil, Skagen44, Source Energy, Spirit Energy, Suncor Energy, Total E&P, Tyr Exploration, VNGe, Wellesley Petroleum, and Wintershall.

As part of the 31st Offshore Licensing Round, the UK Oil and Gas Authority has added 13 blocks or part blocks to the acreage available after offering companies the opportunity to propose additional blocks in more mature areas where applicants intend to commit to a substantial firm work programme.

Awards in Predefined Areas (APA) is the annual licensing round for the best known areas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and includes large parts of all available exploration acreage.

Both the number of applicant companies and the total number of applications are almost as high as in last year’s record-breaking licensing round, said the ministry.

The predefined area was significantly expanded in both the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea during the preparation for this year’s licensing round.

APA 2018 was announced on the 9 May 2018 and the ministry hopes to award new production licenses at the beginning of 2019.

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Gazprom Neft, Mubadala Petroleum and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (the country’s sovereign wealth fund), have established a joint venture to develop oil fields in the Tomsk and Omsk regions of Western Siberia.

Iraq’s state-run Basra Oil Company has signed an agreement with Chevron to develop fields in the south of Iraq.

The MoU includes seismic surveys of the reservoirs.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Spectrum reports Q2 net loss of $-4 million

CGG to open imaging centre in Malaysia

Spectrum has reported a second quarter net loss of $-4.41 million on revenues of $23.4 million, compared to a net loss of $-113,000 on revenues of $26.9 million in the first quarter of 2018 and a net loss of $-2.98 million on revenues of $30.4 million in the second quarter of 2017.

The company reported a second quarter operating loss of $-1.9 million, compared to an operating loss of $-669,000 in Q1 2018 and an operating loss of $-619,000 in the second quarter of 2017.

Late sales were $14.1 million, compared to $13.1 million in Q1 2018 and $8.2 million in Q2 2017.

Early sales on multi-client investments were $9.3 million, primarily related to the Argentina, Mozambique and Otway surveys. This compared to early sales of $13.7 million in Q1 2018, and $22.2 million in Q2 2017.

Multi-client investments were $15.6 million with 60% prefunding compared with $22.2 million with 62% prefunding in Q1 2018 and $31.3 million with 71% prefunding in Q2 2017. Operational cash flow is $22.7 million.

Spectrum’s cash balance increased by $6.6 million to $26.7 million. Net cash flow from operating activities was $22.7 million. Long-term debt is $16.7 million.

In its outlook, the company said that it expected to benefit from rising spending by oil companies as a result of their strong cash flows from production growth, the relatively high oil price and their reduced cost base.

Spectrum is also expected to benefit from more deepwater exploration and interest in the forthcoming licensing rounds in Brazil, where it holds significant data. The company expects to be busy offshore Brazil, Argentina, Gabon and Mozambique.

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CGG has won a contract from Petronas Carigali to develop a Centre for Advanced Imaging (CAI). The centre will be operated for five years by Petronas Carigali at its headquarters in the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

The collaboration will aid the technical development of Petronas Carigali staff as the two companies collaborate in research and development in the area of multi-physics.

Petronas said that its first-ever CAI will enable direct and closer interaction with imaging geophysicists to fast-track bespoke processing of seismic and multi-physics data from Petronas’ acreage around the world.

Petronas Carigali will be given access to software suites from CGG Subsurface Imaging, Multi-Physics and GeoSoftware, which will enable the company to perform advanced technical analysis.

The CAI will also enable Petronas Carigali to investigate expansions into multi-disciplinary solutions and explore the potential of cloud computing and machine learning.

BGP starts surveys offshore Sri Lanka

Research vessel BGP Pioneer is to start seismic data acquisition to explore for prospects in three areas offshore Sri Lanka.

The seismic survey will comprise 5000-line km in the JS5 and JS6 exploration blocks in the Lanka Basin.

Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Resources Development Ministry (PRDS) signed an agreement in May with Eastern Echo DMCC, a subsidiary of Schlumberger, to explore oil and gas resources.

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The PRDS identified three basins: Mannar basin from M-01 to M-10, Kaveri basin from C-1 to C-5, and Lanka basin from JS-1 to JS-6.

Eastern Echo will collect, market and license petroleum data on a ‘multi-client’ basis, enabling several data acquisition projects, including 2D and 3D seismic data.

This agreement acts as an umbrella for the execution of several multi-client-based service agreements to carry out seismic data acquisition surveys, advanced data processing, interpretation work or modelling of petroleum systems.

Eastern Echo DMCC expects to invest $50 million in the exploration as part of this agreement.

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CALENDAR

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 29-30 NOV 2018

First EAGE/PESGB Workshop on Machine Learning: European Edition www.eage.org • London, UK

October 2018 1-3 Oct

Future Energy Africa 2018: Conference and Exhibition

1-4 Oct

Second EAGE Workshop on Geochemistry in Petroleum Operations and Production

10-11 Oct

EAGE Workshop on Continuous Improvement in 4D Seismic

14-17 Oct

SEG International Exposition and 88th Annual Meeting

17-19 Oct

Energy China Forum 2018 - 8th Asia Pacific Shale Gas Summit

22-24 Oct

The 14Th Tunisian Exploration & Productions Conference

22-26 Oct

26e édition de la Réunion des Sciences de la Terre

29-30 Oct

EAGE Symposium on Maximising Carbonate Asset Values through Collaboration and Innovative Solutions

www.futureenergyafrica.com

www.eage.org

www.eage.org

www.seg.org

http://2018en.energychinaforum.com/

www.etap.com.tn/index.php?id=1048

https://rst2018-lille.sciencesconf.org/

Cape Town

South Africa

Muscat

Oman

Perth

Australia

Anaheim

USA

Shanghai

China

Tunis

Tunisia

Lille

France

Bintulu

Malaysia

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November 2018 4-9 Nov

18th International Workshop on Seismic Anisotropy https://iwsa-18.herokuapp.com/

Kibbutz Ma’ale Ha’Hamisha

Israel

5-8 Nov

Second EAGE/SPE Geosteering and Well Placement Workshop

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

5-9 Nov

Africa Oil Week 2018

Cape Town

South Africa

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www.africa-oilweek.com

EAGE Events

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Strasbourg

France

Yangon

Myanmar

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

Fifth CO2 Geological Storage Workshop

Utrecht

Netherlands

26 Nov

Young Professionals Summit

London

United Kingdom

27-29 Nov

PETEX 2018

London

United Kingdom

27-29 Nov

EAGE/SBGF Workshop on Least-Squares Migration

Rio de Janeiro

Brazil

29-30 Nov

First EAGE/PESGB Workshop on Machine Learning: European Edition

London

United Kingdom

30 Nov

First EAGE/BVG Workshop on Reservoir and Geomechanics

Bochum

Germany

Kuala Lumpur

Malaysia

Nairobi

Kenya

Valletta (TBC)

Malta

Muscat

Oman

Bahrain

Bahrain

Algiers

Algeria

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

8-9 Nov

EAGE/IGA/DGMK Joint Workshop on Deep Geothermal Energy

13-15 Nov

2018 EAGE Fourth AAPG/EAGE/MGS Myanmar Oil & Gas Conference

18-20 Nov

EAGE Workshop on 4D Seismic and Reservoir Monitoring

21-23 Nov

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December 2018 3-5 Dec

EAGE Reservoir Geoscience Conference

3-5 Dec

Fourth EAGE Eastern Africa Petroleum Geoscience Forum Effective Exploration and Development of Hydrocarbons through Technology and Partnership

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www.eage.org

6-7 Dec

Eastern Mediterranean Workshop First EAGE Workshop on Geophysical and Geological Challenges in the Hydrocarbon Provinces of the Eastern Mediterranean www.eage.org

9-13 Dec

Seventh Arabian Plate Geology Workshop: Pre-Cambrian to Paleozoic Petroleum Systems in the Arabian Plate www.eage.org

11-13 Dec

AAPG/EAGE Shale Gas Evolution Symposium www.eage.org

January 2019 28-29 Jan

EAGE/ALNAFT Geoscience Workshop Enhanced Oil Recovery in Mature Fields & Tight Reservoir and Deep Reservoir Characterization and Evaluation www.eage.org

February 2019 18-21 Feb

First EAGE Reservoir Characterization and Modelling Workflows for Giant Carbonate Field Developments of the Middle East www.eage.org

EAGE Events

Non-EAGE Events

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Technical Contents Technical Article Characterization of a cave by means of microgravity and electrical resistivity 3D-inversions Z. de Braga cave (Mira de Aire, Portugal), F.J. Martínez-Moreno, F.A. Monteiro Santos, J. Galindo-Zaldívar, L. González-Castillo, A. Pedrera, I. Bernando, S. Gonçalves and J. Alves Ribeiro Present and future contribution of geophysics to the prevention through design and quality management approaches for tunneling operations E. De Cillis, P. Fargione, L. Maida, M. Patrucco and L. Sambuelli

Special Topic: EM & Potential Methods Measuring gravity gradient in rugged terrain: HeliFalcon survey in Aso-Oguni, Japan Tianyou Chen and Mark Dransfield Inversion of TEM responses to create a near surface velocity stucture I. Shelokhov, I. Buddo, A. Smirnov, M. Sharlov and Y. Agafonov ater resources detection at Santiago Island, Cape Verde using electromagnetic methods W Rui Gonçalves, Fernando A. Monteiro Santos, Mohammad Farzamian, Patrícia Represas, A. Mota Gomes, A.F. Lobo de Pina, and Eugénio P. Almeida apping seafloor massive sulfides with the Golden Eye frequency-domain EM profiler M Hendrik Müller, Katrin Schwalenberg, Konstantin Reeck, Udo Barckhausen, Ulrich Schwarz-Schampera, Christian Hilgenfeldt and Tilo von Dobeneck loud computing for large-scale controlled-source electromagnetic inversions, Barents Sea, Norway C Karen Engell Savoretti, Stefan Dümmong, Berit Ensted Danielsen, Jan Ove Hansen, Mark Austin Read, Hans Rune Bue and Torgeir Wiik dvances in electromagnetic techniques for exploration, prospecting, and monitoring of hydrocarbon deposits A Viacheslav V. Spichak

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