CGG Starts Gulf of Mexico Seismic Data Reimaging

France-based offshore seismic data firm CGG has started a new seismic data reimaging program in the prospective Walker Ridge area in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

CGG said the project was a part of a major reimaging campaign being conducted in the Gulf of Mexico. 

"The Walker Ridge program covers approximately 300 OCS blocks including two priority areas of significant industry interest. Advanced proprietary imaging technologies will be applied to this program to unlock the full potential of existing seismic data and provide significant uplift in subsurface imaging," CGG said.

"Given recent discoveries and proven production in Walker Ridge, the new program has received strong industry prefunding from clients actively exploring and drilling for oil and gas within this basin," the company added.

According to CGG, its Walker Ridge Wide-Azimuth and StagSeis DEUX surveys will provide input for the project and the reprocessed data will deliver "valuable, high-quality imaging throughout the program with two priority discovery areas being processed on an accelerated schedule."

Final products are expected in February 2021 and May 2021 respectively, ahead of the full program results, due out by the end of 2021.

The target of CGG’s new program is the prolific Wilcox formation which is deformed by thrusts and folds beneath multiple thick salt sheets and shales that have historically been difficult to image, it said.

Per CGG,  the company will reprocess existing data with 3D deghosting, 3D SRME, and its new velocity modeling technologies, including Time-Lag FWI and FWI Imaging, to better define this challenging and complex area. 

"Preliminary test results show significant uplift in imaging of the subsalt fold-belts and continuity of reflectors within the Eocene and Paleocene exploration targets," CGG said.

Sophie Zurquiyah, CEO, CGG, said: “Production in the Walker Ridge area has been consistent and continues to grow with recent discoveries. As the industry leader in seismic data processing, we are continually developing new technology and techniques that we can apply to existing data to provide our clients with the best, most technically advanced images of the subsurface. Advances in technology and the results from this project will allow for more efficient decision-making in finding and producing oil and gas.”