SEISMIC survey activity off the coast of Gippsland ended at the weekend.
Seismic survey vessel MV Geo Coral began acquiring information relating to the Gippsland Basin for French petroleum concern CGG on January 1, and finished up on Saturday.
Unlike the seismic survey carried out off Golden Beach early last year to investigate possible carbon storage structures, the survey activity included streamer deployment and retrieval to look for new oil and gas reserves.
The three-dimensional marine seismic survey was carried out in Commonwealth-controlled waters at least 12 kilometres offshore from Seaspray to beyond Cape Conran.
The MV Geo Coral travelled between 3.5 and six knots, towing 12 seismic cables about 7.3 km in length, and 1.3 km in width.
While five zones were initially mapped for combing, the geoscience company only surveyed four.
In 2017, CGG announced it would be mapping the Gippsland basin, to “offer the industry the highest resolution 3D seismic data available in this extremely prospective area”.
The company hoped the project would deliver significant reservoir imaging improvements, reveal new potential deep reservoir targets and extensively improve understanding of the basin.
At the time, CGG multi-client and new ventures Eastern Hemisphere senior vice president Mark Richards said the Gippsland Basin was an exciting opportunity to show how leading-edge seismic imaging technologies could enable the industry to breathe new life into a mature basin.
“With its well established infrastructure and under-developed resources, we believe this high-end reprocessing project has the potential to regenerate the basin and offer a solution to the projected shortfall in Australia’s east coast gas supplies,” he said.
Stakeholders who would like to comment on the survey, or receive additional information, can phone 1800 501 541, email CGGgippsland@cgg.com or visit www.cgg.com/en.
