Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) announces that it has today signed a contract worth approximately USD 12.5 million with an oil company in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The vessel BOA Galatea (photo) will acquire both 3D electromagnetic (EM) and magnetotelluric (MT) data in the Red Sea over a three-month period.
Mobilization is expected in the early part of the second quarter, following completion of the previously announced contract offshore Mozambique.
Roar Bekker, EMGS chief executive officer , commented: “ We are delighted to have secured this contract which, along with the work offshore Mozambique, provides backlog for the BOA Galatea through to the end of July 2011.
“The Red Sea project is, to our knowledge, the largest combined 3D EM and MT survey ever undertaken. We see this as an endorsement of our technical and operational capabilities, providing further evidence that EM is becoming an established exploration tool.”
About MT
Whereas 3D EM, which is also known as controlled source EM (CSEM), uses a high-power EM source to create a subsurface signal, the magnetotelluric (MT) method uses a natural signal generated from the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field. MT and EM surveys can be performed using the same receiver deployment, with MT measurements recorded when the controlled source is inactive. The MT method is particularly useful in complex salt and basalt areas such as the Red Sea.
EMGS has conducted more than 500 surveys to improve drilling success rates across the world’s mature and frontier offshore basins. The company operates on a worldwide basis with main offices in Trondheim and Stavanger, Norway; Houston, USA; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Source: EMGS, February 1, 2011;