As reported by DNB  and published on Bloomberg chat June 7.

“TGS CEO Kristian Johansen held an industry talk/webcast this afternoon. One of the focus points was on new technology and he spent a considerable time on the node/ocean bottom seismic development. TGS see a trend of new ocean bottom seismic companies emerging with lower cost solutions and they expect that this will continue going forward to a more competitive level versus traditional streamer surveys. On numerous occasions the CEO commented that the ocean bottom development is something they follow very closely, to a level where they are already working with some of the leading players and that this could be the future of the seismic industry. According to TGS, ocean bottom should be the highest growth area going forward and oil companies have a higher appetite for this survey method now. Ocean bottom surveys are still more expensive compared to traditional towed streamer surveys, however, the data quality is significantly better. This development is getting increasing attention in the industry, and could be a risk for both traditional vessel owners but also the value of existing conventional 3D multi-client libraries.”

 

 

 

 

Excellent and well researched commentary in the January First Break issue regarding the current technology shift underway in the marine seismic market.  If you are at all interested in Marine Seismic this is an excellent summary of why Ocean Bottom Nodes are gaining market share today and why they are destined to be the primary technology in the near future.

http://fb.eage.org/publication/content?id=90975

We are posting here a summary of an OBS market study by Oslo-based independent consultant Arkwright Consulting AS. It confirms the expectation on which inApril was established in 2012, namely that increasingly cost-effective ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition technology will continue to gain market share for marine seismic surveys. Arkwright´s research indicates that OBS will grow by 250% within 2019/2020.

Some of the graphics provide a clear picture of why inApril’s innovative approach to reducing costs and speeding operations, based on a high degree of automation, exactly meets the needs and preferences of the offshore E&P industry going forward. It is clear from this report that inApril can successfully challenge towed streamer solutions to multi-/wide-azimuth and other seismic surveys involving complex geology, as well as provide high quality multi-component data for reservoir characterization.

 

Click on the image to open the summary.

The Norwegian seismic equipment supplier inApril AS announces that it successfully carried out a full-scale sea trial of its fully integrated node-based seabed seismic acquisition system, Venator. The company says the trial confirmed that Venator is the first seabed-based exploration tool to provide data far superior to conventional towed streamer solutions at competitive terms.

The system, which features fully hands-free handling and flexible node spacing at unprecedented speeds, was tested in 110m water depth over a part of the Edvard Grieg field (PL 338), operated by Lundin Petroleum, in the Norwegian North Sea. The node used was inApril’s A3000 node, suitable for both deep and shallow water operations.

The trial repeatedly demonstrated ‘node-on-a-rope’ deployment speeds of 5 – 6 knots and retrieval speeds at 3 – 4 knots in these water depths, enabling up to 20 km² full-azimuth data acquisition per day in exploration mode.

Preliminary results confirm the excellent data quality also shown by previous sea trials, only achievable by seabed data acquisition. Data processing will be carried out in the coming weeks.

According to numerous industry executives and analysts, more efficient node-based ocean bottom seismic will provide the optimal solution for oil companies looking to increase reserves at reasonable costs via targeted exploration and reservoir characterization data acquisition.

Vidar Hovland, CEO of inApril, said: ‘The market has been waiting to see if we can deliver what we promised. Now we have documented that Venator offers a game-changing, cost-effective, and fully automated exploration and reservoir characterization tool. The system is flexible and can be containerized for mobilization to a variety of vessels for a range of offshore seismic applications and water depths.’

4-6 September 2017 Beijing, China

Following is our abstract paper presented by Ronny Bøhn at the SEG OBN Technologies and Applications Workshop in Beijing.

The paper considers the high cost and operational inefficiencies traditionally associated with ocean bottom seismic (OBS) acquisition that have deterred wider industry adoption of this compelling technology. A case study is presented on how the main challenges are being overcome in the development of a next generation ocean bottom node (OBN) system focused on lower cost and more efficient, faster operation with scope for exploration projects as well as reservoir characterization and monitoring.

View the white paper here:

Bergen, Norway, September 8, 2017 – inApril AS has closed on its acquisition of Profocus Systems AS, a Norwegian company developing recording software, data management, and real time quality Control systems for the high-end marine seismic acquisition industry.

“Profocus has played an integral part in our data management system development and we are very pleased to have them formally onboard”, says Vidar Hovland, CEO of inApril.  “Profocus will continue to focus on delivering solutions to marine seismic acquisition industry in addition to joining us in delivering disruptive technology for the new era of seabed seismic acquisition.”

Oslo, September 1, 2017.  Full scale sea trials of inApril´s game changing Ocean Bottom Node system were successfully completed last week. The objectives were to demonstrate the efficiency in hands-free deployment and retrieval of nodes on a rope and to once again demonstrate data quality. The trials took place in western Norway over the Lundin license at the Edward Grieg field  in the North Sea between 16th and 23rd August.

The encouraging results will soon presented on our web (www.inApril.com).
Skjermbilde 2017-09-03 kl. 11.18.15

June 6, 2017.  For those that may have missed an excellent read…please click on the link below.

To read the full article click here

Oslo, March 27, 2017.  Following the successful completion of recent offshore tests of the A3000 node, inApril is planning another project trial this summer.  The trial will be carried out in cooperation with a major operator on the Norwegian Continental Shelf and will take place over legacy OBS data.  In addition to recording high quality OBN data, we intend to further demonstrate the safety, integrity and the game changing efficiency of the Venator OBN system by deploying and retrieving the equipment at up to 6 knots’ speed, which translates into production rates of up to 20-25 sqkm/day for a large node spread.

Oslo, March 16, 2017.  Tim comes to inApril with 35 years of experience managing Ocean Bottom Seismic (OBS) operations around the world and is known as a pioneer of the OBS method. Prior to joining inApril, Tim was Chief Operating Officer (COO) of ION Geophysical’s OBS subsidiary, OceanGeo. In addition to his position at OceanGeo, Tim worked at ION for thirteen years where he served in various roles including Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives where he was responsible for ION’s QHSE program, the R&D process, and corporate marketing. He spent ten years as President of the Seafloor Seismic Division at PGS and nearly twenty years managing OBS and land operations at GSI and HGS.

 

Tim Rigby