Spectrum Signs Agreement Offshore Greenland to Reprocess Seismic Data

Spectrum has signed an agreement with the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) to reprocess more than 7,800kms of 2D seismic data offshore the east coast of Greenland. This data will be processed though Pre-Stack Time Migration (PSTM) and subsequently licensed on a Multi-Client basis.

The data consists of 3 surveys known as the NAD project, which were acquired during the 1980's offshore East Greenland. The data is located between 62 and 72 degrees north and ties many of the wells drilled by Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) between 1993 and 1995.

Competitive bidding for the area is scheduled in 2012 and 2013, as designated by Greenland's Bureau of Minerals & Petroleum (BMP). The survey area includes the southern part of the East Greenland rift basins. A 2007 U.S Geological Survey (USGS) assessment over this province indicated undiscovered oil and gas reserves of 31,400 MMBOE (million barrels of oil equivalent).

East Greenland forms the conjugate margin to the Norwegian continental shelf, Faroe-Shetland Islands and Rockall Basins. It is considered that analogues of successful play types found in these relatively well explored petroleum provinces can be extrapolated into the East Greenland offshore frontier area. This offshore area is considered frontier in hydrocarbon exploration terms, with only limited, regional, wide-spaced 2D seismic lines available and only a few ODP wells drilled.

Outcrop data from onshore East Greenland and previous interpretation of the existing offshore seismic data has suggested elements of a working hydrocarbon system could be present in the area covered by the Spectrum reprocessed data. Tertiary sediment thicknesses of up to 6 km have been postulated in offshore South Eastern Greenland basins (below 72 degrees north) and possible Tertiary and Mesozoic reservoirs could be present in the form of fluvio/deltaic and submarine sandstones. Extensive offshore Lower Tertiary Basalts observed on seismic sections in the northern portion of the study area are almost certain to overlie Mesozoic and Palaeocene sediments.

Spectrum reprocessing of vintage 2D seismic data in the India West Coast offshore region was able to effectively image below Tertiary Deccan Basalts and successfully identify and image pre-basalt Mesozoic stratigraphic sequences for the first time. It is hoped that by using the same techniques, the East Greenland pre-Tertiary basalt sedimentary section imaging can be improved and subsequently be interpreted.

The reprocessing of the vintage seismic data will be carried out in Spectrum's state of the art processing center. A thorough parameter testing sequence will be applied to the data to ensure the best possible quality for final products. The application of PSTM will be an integral part of the final sequence and the final product will be added to Spectrum's rapidly expanding Multi-Client data library towards the end of the year.


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