CGG Land permitting Cronus seismic

The state is taking comments on a 3-D seismic program that CGG Land Inc. is proposing to conduct this coming winter in the central North Slope, near the Colville River.

The proposed Cronus 3-D seismic program would cover some 280 square miles of state-owned acreage located in the area south of the Kuparuk River and Colville River units.

The region includes leases held by Great Beat Petroleum, Royale Energy and Repsol.

CGG plans to conduct the programs using “tracked vibrators supported by tracked cable trucks.” The vibrator lines would run east to west, spaced some 550 feet apart with vibrator points every 50 feet along each line. The vibrators have a frequency between 4 and 100 hertz, used between eight to 12 seconds for each “sweep,” according to CGG.

The program would run through the end of May 2014.

The Division of Oil and Gas is taking comments on the plans through Dec. 23.

CGG Land is also permitting three other North Slope seismic programs for this winter.

—Eric Lidji

—A copyrighted oil and gas lease map from Mapmakers Alaska was a research tool used in preparing this story.