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CGGVeritas has confirmed that ARGAS, its Saudi Arabian joint venture has been awarded two major Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) 3D data acquisition contracts by Saudi Aramco with a combined value of around US$375 million.
In a statement the company said that ARGAS, owned 49% by CGG Veritas and 51% by TAQA, will begin operations in June 2010 and operate for a period of 18 months while the second is scheduled to run from October 2010 for a period of 24 months. Each contract respectively has an 18- and 24-month optional extension period.
“These two major OBC surveys follow on from the successful completion by ARGAS of offshore projects for Saudi Aramco in 2009 which already covered close to 12,000 sq km in the Gulf,” Robert Brunck, chairman and CEO of CGGVeritas said.
The statement also said that the projects will cover an initial 6,000 square kilometre over the next three years and require operational expertise working in complex environments, such as producing oil fields and busy shipping lanes within the Saudi waters of the Gulf with depths ranging from 20 to 60 meters.
