Seismic player SeaBird sees dayrates, tenders increasing

Marine seismic pricing is continuing to strengthen and the Ocean Bottom Node market is the place to be, the Norwegian seismic company SeaBird Exploration said Thursday.

Seabird on Thursday reported third-quarter results with a 196% increase in revenues year-over-year. Revenues were $16 million, up from $5.4 million a year ago. SeaBird’s 3Q loss, however, deepened to $5 million in 3Q 2019, compared to a loss of $4,6 million in 2Q 2018.

The company had a 68 percent fleet utilization during the quarter with five vessels in operation during the quarter. This compares with three vessels on projects and 55% utilization in 2Q
2018.

Seabird said day rates increased 30% YoY and showed further upward pressure. Looking ahead, the company sees a rising demand in OBN seismic where it expects tenders for several surveys to come out in Q4, and it also sees early cyclical growth in 2D/3D demand.

“Seismic spending the last couple of years has largely been allocated to improved oil recovery (IOR) from producing fields as well as near-field exploration. This has resulted in a commensurate increase in source vessel demand related to ocean bottom node (OBN) surveys. The OBN market is expected to be a core driver of growth. Tendering activity for OBN work in regions such as West Africa, Brazil and the Gulf of Mexico is showing a marked improvement from previous quarters.”

“2D tendering continues at a moderate pace – but we expect more surveys to realize than before,” SeaBird said in its Q3 presentation.

“We have recently experienced a modest increase in tendering and awards related to streamer surveys. This has largely been related to proprietary surveys. However, we are beginning to see that acquisition contracts are also materializing with the multi-client companies, as illustrated by the Nordic Explorer 2D survey in Australasia. Contract prices are up approximately 30% year-over-year and pricing is anticipated to continue to increase,” SeaBird said.

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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