Barents Sea seismic collaboration grows

The Statoil ASA-operated collaboration of oil and gas companies for joint seismic acquisition in the southeastern Barents Sea has expanded, adding 16 companies to reach an updated total of 33. The project’s purpose is to secure good data quality and low acquisition costs, Statoil said.

New participants include ExxonMobil Corp. and Total SA. Next month the project will report new contracts and present further plans for the acquisition.

Statoil in December reported that 30 companies expressed interest in the initial collaboration, with 17 taking part as early participants (OGJ Online, Dec. 10, 2013).

The recently opened southeastern Barents Sea is part of the 23rd licensing round on the Norwegian continental shelf (OGJ Online, Sept. 3, 2013).