TGS plans Chukchi Sea seismic survey

Seismic company TGS proposes to conduct a 2-D seismic survey in the Chukchi Sea during the 2013 open water season, Steve Whidden, the company’s project development and sales manager, told the National Marine Fisheries Service’s annual Arctic Open Water Meeting on March 6.

The survey would involve a grid of widely spaced seismic lines covering a large part of the central and northern sections of the U.S Chukchi Sea, with a few lines extending into international waters in the extreme north of the sea, beyond the 200-mile limit of the U.S. exclusive economic zone.

The company wants to shoot the seismic to take advantage of the high quality of seismic imagery that can be obtained using modern seismic technology, Whidden said. High-quality 2-D seismic data can help a company make exploration decisions, perhaps determining where to shoot a high-resolution 3-D survey, he said.

Whidden told Petroleum News that TGS does not have any specific client for the survey and would make the survey data available for license.

TGS hopes to start its survey at some time between mid-July and mid-August, with the survey taking around 35 days to shoot — the total operational period, including some necessary down time, would be 45 to 60 days, Whidden said. The intention would be to complete the survey lines closest to the Alaska coast in July or August and move to international waters in mid to late September, or early October, he said. TGS anticipates being able to complete all of its seismic lines in U.S. waters, but completion of the international component of the survey might not be possible, depending on the ice conditions, Whidden said.

The survey would involve the towing of an eight-kilometer seismic receiver cable, he said. The seismic survey vessel would be accompanied by a scouting vessel for wildlife monitoring. If completed, the entire survey would gather about 9,500 kilometers of seismic data.

—Alan Bailey