Lundin Selects CGGVeritas' New-Build for Avaldsnes Field

CGGVeritas announced that the first project for its recently launched Oceanic Sirius X-BOW® seismic vessel will be a 3D BroadSeis™ survey on the Avaldsnes field, potentially estimated to be the third largest oil discovery in Norway, on behalf of Lundin Petroleum.

The Oceanic Sirius joined the CGGVeritas fleet on October 3 and is now starting acquisition of the 3D BroadSeis survey for Lundin. As one of the most advanced, high-capacity seismic vessels worldwide, the Oceanic Sirius is designed for superior acquisition data quality combined with the highest environmental standards and the minimum operational downtime. Her operational efficiency is expected to match if not exceed the outstanding seismic performance already shown by her sister ship, the Oceanic Vega.

BroadSeis, the new CGGVeritas broadband marine solution, was selected to improve the resolution and imaging of the field. The vessel will acquire BroadSeis data with Sercel Sentinel® solid streamers equipped with the Sercel Nautilus® streamer control device. DoveTailTM, a proprietary CGGVeritas acquisition and processing solution designed to achieve more regular sampling and to reduce infill, will also be deployed on this project.

Hans Christen Rønnevik, Exploration Manager of Lundin, said, "An essential part of the Lundin exploration philosophy is to continuously learn and seek new understanding through new technology. Broadband technology represents a step-change in marine seismic acquisition. Based on very encouraging results from a 2D BroadSeis R&D test over the Luno Discovery that we conducted early this year, Lundin as an operator of the PL501 license, has chosen to proceed with 3D BroadSeis acquisition over the Avaldsnes Discovery."

Jean-Georges Malcor, CGGVeritas CEO, said, "The Oceanic Sirius acquiring BroadSeis data represents the best marine seismic that the industry can offer today, and the Avaldsnes field is a significant North Sea discovery which holds tremendous promise for the oil industry in Norway. We are very pleased to provide these highest-end capabilities to Lundin for this noteworthy project."