ION Geophysical Corporation announced that it has acquired an additional 5,200 km of regional seismic data from offshore Northeast Greenland, bringing the total kilometers the company has acquired in the region over the last two seasons to nearly 18,000.
The Arctic is one of the least explored, most prospective regions in the world, containing an estimated one-quarter of the earth’s undiscovered hydrocarbons, including an estimated 90 billion barrels of oil and 1.7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.
The successful acquisition, during an extremely challenging ice year, was further validation of the company’s proprietary, purpose-designed marine streamer technology that enables data acquisition in the presence of ice. This technology, coupled with ION’s Arctic program management expertise, again enabled the company to acquire data further north and in the presence of heavier ice than had been previously possible, at the same time mitigating HSE risk and reducing cycle time.
In addition to its Northeast Greenland survey, ION was also engaged during the summer season in the 2011 Arctic Expedition at the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation. The survey was performed by order of the Federal Subsoil Resources Management Agency, under the guidance of the State Research Navigation and Hydrographic Institute, in support of submission of Russia to the U.N. for extension of the limits of the continental shelf. Seismic data (approximately 6,000 km) was acquired over 57 days, culminating in the acquisition of data at a distance of less than 300 km of the North Pole.
Joe Gagliardi, ION’s Arctic Solutions and Technology Director , commented, “ This extension to our Greenland regional program and our acquisition in the Russian High Arctic served as further validation of the value of our proprietary Arctic acquisition technology. Together, this data provides the sponsoring entities with an understanding of the relationships among micro basins in the area, which they can use to more effectively assess the Arctic’s hydrocarbon potential, identify new opportunities, and mitigate exploration risk.”
ION’s ArcticSPAN™ program now offers regional exploration teams more than 55,000 km of deeply imaged seismic data in the Arctic region covering the Beaufort-MacKenzie, Banks Island, Chukchi, East Greenland Rift, and Danmarkshavn basins. The company plans to deliver the Northeast Greenland data in the first quarter of 2012, in time for the 2012 Northeast Greenland licensing round.
About ION
ION Geophysical Corporation is a leading provider of geophysical technology, services, and solutions for the global oil & gas industry. ION’s offerings are designed to allow E&P operators to obtain higher resolution images of the subsurface to reduce the risk of exploration and reservoir development, and to enable seismic contractors to acquire geophysical data safely and efficiently.
[mappress] Source: ION, October 31, 2011