CGG, a geophysical services company, has announced that it will start a multi-client airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico.
According to the company, the Comisión Nacional de Hidrocarburos (CNH) has authorized the program, which will include the acquisition of approximately 200,000 line kilometers over six areas across the Mexican Gulf of Mexico.
Data acquisition will start in March 2016 and is anticipated to take twelve months utilizing specialized geophysical survey aircraft. The project has received significant prefunding from the oil industry, CGG said.
The survey will provide coverage over the most prospective areas from the prolific Perdido fold belt with AOI 1, to the more mature near-shore heavy oil belt with AOI 6, the geophysical company added. The data will help explorers map crystalline basement and magnetic and density anomalies within the sedimentary section. The airborne survey will also collect continuous data through the “transition zone” from the marine environment to onshore.
The company added that a comprehensive interpretation, combining this new data set with available geologic and geophysical data, would also be undertaken by CGG’s in-house interpretation team. Deliverables will include a full geophysical interpretation report, including definition of basement lithology and structure, mapping of sediment fairways and depositional-centers and any intrusives or salt which may be present in the sedimentary section.
The final results will be presented in ArcGIS format for assimilation into the clients’ own seismic, geological and well control databases.
Jean-Georges Malcor , CEO, CGG, said: “This airborne gravity and magnetic survey offshore Mexico will be a significant addition to our existing gravity & magnetic database in the Gulf of Mexico where we have over 1,000,000 line kilometers of multi-client data.
“Combined with our other seismic, geologic and satellite multi-client data in Mexico, this new airborne survey will provide a unique geoscience-rich library to support the successful exploration and economic development of this high-potential area for many years to come.”