UK’s Oil and Gas Authority has released almost 40,000 line kilometers of new and legacy seismic data from the Rockall Trough and Mid-North Sea High areas acquired during last year’s £20 million Government-funded seismic survey.
The data has been published under the Open Government Licence, and is available for download and to order on media from www.ukoilandgasdata.com.
Data packages under 20GB in size may be downloaded for free, while larger data packages will be available on media only, for which a charge will be made to cover media, handling, and delivery costs, the OGA said.
Deirdre Michie , Oil & Gas UK’s chief executive, has praised the seismic data release: “We welcome the news that the Oil and Gas Authority is now releasing into the public domain the substantial volume of seismic data from the UK government-funded surveys. This marks a milestone in the collective efforts to re-energise exploration activity on the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). The OGA is publishing the data via the UKOilandGasData.com portal, the industry’s shared data management service operated by Common Data Access (CDA), a subsidiary of Oil & Gas UK.
Michie said there was a comprehensive array of information available, including both newly acquired and legacy seismic data plus gravity and magnetic maps and well data.
Michie said: “It represents a new dimension in both the quantity and quality of subsurface data available in these frontier areas, which should help stimulate further interest in the forthcoming 29th Licence Round. Record numbers of organisations both in the UKCS and overseas have already registered an interest in downloading the data and it is a testament to the focus and hard work of many individuals that the project has been delivered so effectively.
“The industry recognises the government’s commitment to stimulating exploration in the UKCS, where we believe billions of barrels of oil and gas are yet to be recovered. The government is making an additional £20 million available to fund new seismic data acquisition this year for release in 2017 and this is also very much to be welcomed. The industry is working with the OGA to help identify the priority areas where the new data should be acquired. The results from these surveys will again be made available to the wider industry and academia.”