PETRONAS Signs Contract with Schlumberger for Campeche Basin Seismic Survey

Schlumberger announced today that PETRONAS, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, PETRONAS (E&P) OVERSEAS VENTURES SDN. BHD., has signed an agreement to license a significant part of the WesternGeco Campeche wide-azimuth (WAZ) deepwater multiclient seismic survey in the southern Gulf of Mexico.

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to expand our collaboration with PETRONAS in Mexican waters of the Gulf of Mexico,” said Maurice Nessim, president, WesternGeco, Schlumberger (SLB). “The great potential of the area and complexity of the geology in the Campeche basin requires high-quality wide-azimuth acquisition to image the subsalt effectively. We will leverage our extensive U.S. Gulf of Mexico experience to deliver enhanced subsalt imaging and additional exploration solutions to our clients.”

“PETRONAS is looking for high-quality global growth opportunities and we plan to use the best available technology to focus our search for these opportunities,” said Emeliana Rice-Oxley, vice president of Exploration, PETRONAS. “The WAZ seismic will help unravel the hydrocarbon potential in the complex and under explored Mexican deepwater basins. This agreement is a step towards achieving our growth strategy and demonstrates our long-term commitment to exploration in Mexico. This will enable PETRONAS’ growth efforts in high grading selective new investments to strategically position ourselves and grow in the region, in support of Mexico’s Energy Reform. In addition to Gulf of Mexico, PETRONAS also has a sizeable library of multi-client seismic data covering the southern Atlantic Margin, which is also part of our exploration focus area.”

The WesternGeco Campeche WAZ deepwater multiclient seismic survey is located in the southern Gulf of Mexico. More than 80,000 km2 of newly imaged subsurface data, which have been acquired in the last 12 months, are available for oil and gas companies participating in exploration in Mexico. The project follows the Mexican government’s opening of licensing rounds to non-government companies for the first time.