Geology NEWS

The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador released its budget and Energy NL welcomes a number of the initiatives, including reinstatement of the offshore seismic program, support for the renewable sector, continuation of the Offshore Exploration Initiative, and assessment of natural gas opportunities.

Norway-based Resman AS has entered in a share purchase agreement to acquire tracer service provider, Restrack. The merger move will combine Resman’s reservoir monitoring and intelligent chemical tracer systems and Restrack’s full portfolio of integrated tracer services. This will allow them to provide even more detailed information to operators on their reservoirs and wells.

Houston-based Fairfield Geotechnologies has farmed out its Seismic Technologies business. The firm informed today that it entered into an agreement with Norway-based Magseis ASA. Fairfield’s Seismic Technologies business comprises of data acquisition, nodal and system sale & rental activities. Magseis will also get ownership of all shares in Fairfield's wholly-owned, WGP Group.

Shearwater GeoServices entered into an acquisition deal to acquire Schlumberger’s geophysical services product line, WesternGeco. Post-acquisition, Shearwater will become a global, customer-focused and technology-driven supplier of marine geophysical services. The agreement shall grant Shearwater the ownership of 10 high-end seismic acquisition vessels, including seven 3D vessels and three multipurpose vessels (MPVs), along with Norway and Malaysia’s development and manufacturing facilities.

Houston-based Fairfield Geotechnologies recently announced the award of two projects. The first project is in the Gulf of Mexico, expected for completion in November of this year. The second project is in the Delaware basin, and also covers merging of existing data with new acquisition. The Delaware project is projected for completion in March 2019. Fairfield is expecting a significant reduction in project turnaround time.

In order to investigate the architecture and evaluate the petroleum potential of producing and non-producing areas, ION Geophysical Corporation has announced a new 2D multi-client program offshore Grand Banks in Newfoundland, Canada. In its first phase GrandSPAN, ION will acquire approx. 10,000 km of data with the expectation to sanction a second phase of approx. 5,000 km further south in 2019.

A new study by the geologists of Rice University reveals that ash rich in nutrients from a massive outburst of volcanic eruptions towards the culmination of the ‘dinosaur era’ had started a series of events that led to the formation of shale gas and oil fields all the way from Texas to Montana. Studies have often indicated a link between volcanic eruptions and unconventional shale hydrocarbons.