Ion plans Beaufort Sea seismic for 2011

Ion Geophysical has applied to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement for a permit to conduct a regional scale 2-D seismic survey on the Beaufort Sea outer continental shelf during the early winter of 2011. The company had planned to conduct the survey in 2010 but cancelled its plans as a result of an engine problem in the seismic vessel that the company was going to use for the survey.

Ion wants to survey the entire length of the Alaska Beaufort Sea, using deeply penetrating seismic signals to reveal the characteristics of the Beaufort Sea petroleum system, including the identification of source rocks, hydrocarbon migration pathways and exploration plays, for the entire petroleum basin. A new technique involving an icebreaker and seismic vessel working in tandem will enable the surveying to be done in the presence of sea ice — geophones deployed on “streamers” towed behind the seismic vessel will travel deeper in the water than normal, thus enabling the equipment to operate below the ice. The survey is planned to take place between early October and mid-December, thus avoiding conflicts with other offshore activities such as subsistence whale hunting.

According to Ion’s permit application, the survey can continue, even when ice completely covers the sea, provided that the ice is mostly new and less than 1 to 1.5 feet thick.

The application says that the company plans to use the Norwegian seismic vessel BOS Atlantic for the survey — the survey is planned to start at the eastern end of the Alaska Beaufort, starting in relatively deep water and then moving to shallower water, before moving westward as the survey progresses.

—Alan Bailey