• Wednesday, 16 May, 2012

InSeis survey fires up Iceland

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 23 August 2001 19:03 GMT

New Norwegian seismic company InSeis believes Iceland may be the next nation to join the club of North-European oil producers.

The company has launched a major seismic survey over the Jan Mayen Ridge, and claims there is significant interest for the first results, expected to be available in December.

"The Jan Mayen Ridge is geologically similar to Atlantic margin areas like the Faroe West of Shetland basin and the Norwegian Voring and More basins. There are clear indications of mesozoic sediments," said InSeis managing director Jan Gateman.

This summer's non-exclusive survey is the first to focus mainly on Icelandic waters. The seismic data previously gathered in this area has been driven by the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate's (NPD) desire to get knowledge about possibilities in the country's borderline areas.

"These data were acquired in the mid-70s and mid-80s. Our campaign is using a 10 kilometre-long streamer and more advanced processing methods," Gateman said.

The Jan Mayen Ridge is a micro-continent of some 100,000 square kilometres, roughly split down the middle between the Icelandic and the Norwegian shelf, with water-depths ranging from 300 to 1000 metres in the south, descending to more than 2000 metres in the east and west. Some 3000 kilometres of 2D data, 90% of it in Icelandic waters, has been acquired over the past month and is set to be analysed during the first phase of the survey. InSeis plans to follow up with new surveys in the same area in the next two to three years.

Earlier this year, Iceland passed its first petroleum code. The country hopes new seismic information will attract international oil companies, but there is still a long way to go before a first licensing round could materialise.

InSeis is a relatively new company, with former Geco founder and boss Anders Farestveit as chairman of the board and one major owner with a stake of around 35%.

A similar block of shares is held by Geo Innova, in which InSeis boss Gateman is one of three shareholders. Another substantial owner with close to 10% is Sagex, a group spun out of vanquished Norwegian independent Saga Petroleum.

Apart from the Icelandic survey, InSeis has recently started a 1200-kilometre 2D survey in areas dubbed Yggdrasil and Havsule Vest in the Norwegian Sea. These unlicensed areas are expected to come on offer in Norway's 17th licensing round next year. Earlier this year the company acquired some 1200 kilometres of 2D seismic in the Nordland 6 area, off the Lofoten islands, and a similar quantity in the Helgeland basin.

The company also shot nearly 4000 kilometres in the central North Cape basin, near Statoil's Barents Sea discovery, which was made this winter.

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