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Second SAE Cook Inlet seismic approved Company will gather 548 square miles of 3-D seismic in lower Cook Inlet; earlier approval for 821 miles in upper inlet KRISTEN NELSON Petroleum News
SAExploration Inc. has received approval for a second geophysical exploration program in Cook Inlet. In March the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Oil and Gas approved an 821-square mile 3-D seismic survey in upper Cook Inlet, in state waters west of the northern Kenai Peninsula.
On July 21 the division approved a 3-D program covering some 548 square miles. The current approval covers state waters in lower Cook Inlet, east of Kalgin Island and the outer continental shelf boundary and south of the Kenai River to just south of Anchor Point.
Each permit runs for a year, the upper Cook Inlet permit from March 18 to March 18, 2016, and the lower Cook Inlet permit from July 21 to July 15, 2016.
Nodal recording The division said SAE will use autonomous nodal seismic recording equipment and air guns as the source, typically using groups of six receiver lines and 32 source lines. Each patch of some 7.5 miles by 10 miles will take some three to five days to deploy, shoot and record, the division said.
As a patch is recorded, nodes from the previous patch will be retrieved and charged, and data downloaded.
There will be two source vessels equipped with air guns and source activities will occur only during low and high slack tides or when vessels can operate safely to acquire quality data, typically for two to three hours at each slack tide.
The division said while the marine nodes are cable-less, they are tethered together for easy of retrieval. Nodes and rope tether will lie on the seabed floor and will have no effect on marine traffic, with a buoy release deployed when the line is ready for retrieval.
Fisheries concerns The Alaska Department of Fish and Game had concerns about seismic work in Cook Inlet around salmon migration and fishery activities, and also wanted to know about the impact on the Clam Gulch Critical Habitat area adjacent to the proposed project, where clam beds are a concern. The department’s concerns also included sound impacts on marine mammals - including beluga whales, sea otters and harbor seals.
The Division of Oil and Gas included SAExploration responses to Fish and Game concerns. The company said it is not currently planning to work in the Clam Gulch Critical Habitat area, but if it determines it does need to work in that area it would contact Fish and Game for the appropriate permit.
SAE said it has received authorization from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and said noise concerns are addressed by NOAA and the National Marine Fisheries Service in detail. It said its seismic noise levels are within the range considered safe for bony fish and also said it has not witnessed any fish mortalities as a result of air gun operations.
SAE also said it was “well aware of the potential impact the planned seismic operation could have on local populations of all marine mammals,” and said it implements mitigation measures approved by NMFS.
The company said there is a shutdown safety zone for beluga whales and said it implemented those measures during seismic surveys in 2012 and as a result no beluga whales were exposed to noise levels exceeding 160 decibels.
SAE said according to its updated Marine Mammal Monitoring and Mitigation Plan, any marine mammal injury take by its seismic program will be immediately reported to the NMFS Office of Protected Species, the NMFS Regional Office-Anchorage and the Alaska Regional Stranding Coordination, while any noted injury to waterfowl or fish resources will be reported to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game Division of Habitat.
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