Saudi Arabia
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Jan. 11 – Saudi Aramco let a contract valued at around $375 million to ARGAS for ocean bottom cable 3D data acquisition contracts in the Persian Gulf.
ARGAS, a joint venture owned by TAQA 51% and CGGVeritas 49%, is to begin the first project in June 2010 for 18 months and the second in October 2010 for 24 months. The contracts have 18 and 24-month optional extensions, respectively.
The projects will cover an initial 6,000 sq km in the next 3 years and require operational expertise working in complex environments, such as producing oil fields and busy shipping lanes in 20-60 m of water off Saudi Arabia.
The two surveys follow ARGAS’s successful completion of offshore projects for Saudi Aramco in 2009 that covered nearly 12,000 sq km in the gulf.