With new projects on the horizon, Shearwater boasts sevenfold backlog increase

Shearwater GeoServices has been awarded letters of intent for three Isometrix 4D towed streamer projects by Equinor and a 4D Qseabed Ocean Bottom Seismic (OBS) project by Lundin Norway for the 2020 North Sea summer season. The company has also announced a more than sevenfold increase in 2020 backlog.

The 4D OBS project for Lundin Norway covers the Edvard Grieg field in Norway and is effectively the second repeat survey, Shearwater said on Thursday.

Data acquisition will be executed by the SW Cook and SW Tasman with Qseabed crews who have worked continuously on OBS projects in the North Sea throughout the 2019 summer season. The two-month project is scheduled to start in 2Q 2019 (4 vessel months).

The SW Amundsen equipped with Isometrix multi-sensor technology will be the lead vessel for the Equinor projects. The 4D surveys will be conducted at Norway’s Sleipner West and Norne fields, and for the Sleipner CO2 storage project. The total volume of work for Equinor is approximately four vessel months.

“We are delighted to see clients booking 4D capacity early for the 2020 season, adding 8 vessel months to our backlog,” said Irene Waage Basili, the CEO of Shearwater GeoServices.

Irene Waage Basili also said: “Isometrix and Qseabed have become leading technologies for 4D in the North Sea. We are also excited by the opportunity to execute Shearwater’s first CO2 storage monitoring survey over the world’s first offshore carbon capture and storage (CCS) project and thereby help develop innovative solutions to limit carbon emissions.”

Backlog increase

Shearwater on Thursday also announced a more than sevenfold increase in 2020 backlog to 65 vessel-months at the start of 2020, up from nine vessel-months at the same time a year ago.

According to the company, this backlog includes 24 months of the minimum commitment in the recently signed capacity agreement with CGG for two vessel-years annually over a five-year period. The backlog numbers exclude WesternGeco minimum commitment.

The backlog expansion reflects growing demand for marine seismic, particularly 4D, and successful execution of the company’s market consolidation strategy, Shearwater said.

As part of this strategy, Shearwater completed the strategic agreement with CGG where the company takes over five fully equipped high-end seismic vessels and enters into a long-term agreement for marine seismic acquisition services.

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