After ‘ground-breaking’ solution for seismic offshore E&P projects comes boost to ocean bottom node portfolio

Subsurface exploration solutions designer and manufacturer Sercel, a CGG group company, has unveiled a data-driven solution for marine seismic survey planning and management related to exploration and production (E&P) projects. In addition, the company also extended its portfolio of seabed nodal solutions for all water depths down to 6,000 metres to meet the growing industry demand for ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic surveys.

Sercel launched MetaBlue, which it describes as “a ground-breaking” solution that assists E&P companies and marine seismic service providers in reducing project turnaround times by connecting every phase of a marine seismic project. This solution is seen as a way to facilitate greater collaboration between project stakeholders, right from project inception, and optimise marine seismic surveys. By being able to leverage all the survey data from different project components within the MetaBlue ecosystem, project stakeholders can make decisions at every stage of the survey. 

Emmanuelle Dubu, Sercel CEO, commented: “We are delighted to introduce MetaBlue to the market, a true survey game-changer that will reshape the way offshore seismic projects are planned, managed, and executed. MetaBlue’s holistic approach, innovative technology integration, and collaborative focus reflect Sercel’s long-standing commitment to seismic survey innovation and excellence.”

The company believes that MetaBlue’s unique advantage is its ability to bring together all the information related to an offshore seismic survey within a single ecosystem, thus, project stakeholders can easily access and exploit all the different data from the various survey technologies and equipment used throughout a seismic survey, including the firm’s navigation and planning software, advanced MEMS-based node portfolio, towed-streamer technology, advanced source solutions, and survey optimisation services.

Furthermore, Sercel claims that it now has a complete portfolio of OBN solutions, which includes the GPR300, the GPR700, the GPR3000, and the MicrOBS, based on the company’s QuietSeis broadband digital sensor technology. According to the firm, the GPR300 nodal solution was designed for seismic acquisition in shallow water down to 300 metres. Over 50,000 nodes have been deployed in the field since its launch in 2021.

Building on the success of the GPR300, the GPR700 was unveiled on 29 August 2023 at the IMAGE 2023 convention in Houston. Sercel underlines that this solution extends OBN survey operations to the limits of the continental shelf at depths of up to 700 metres.

In a bid to respond to growing requirements for deepwater exploration, the firm also announced a GPR3000 nodal solution for high-density OBN surveys down to depths of 3,000 metres on 30 August 2023. Sercel points out that the MicrOBS sparse nodal solution is “ideally suited” for sparse deepwater OBN operations down to 6,000 metres to complete the firm’s OBN offering.

“We are delighted to now offer a full range of nodal solutions to the seismic industry. The common denominator and key differentiator of this portfolio is QuietSeis, the most accurate seismic sensor in the industry. Its extremely low-noise performance delivers high-fidelity, high-quality broadband datasets for high-precision subsurface imaging. With our comprehensive portfolio of high-tech OBN solutions — all seamlessly integrated into our new MetaBlue marine survey management solution — we are uniquely positioned to support our customers in their offshore exploration and monitoring projects, whatever the depth,” underscored Dubu.