DHAHRAN — The French seismic exploration specialist CGGVeritas and Saudi Aramco unveiled Tuesday a deal to jointly develop a robotic technique to explore seabeds for reserves of crude oil. Dubbed SpiceRack, the technique is “based on the deployment of self-propelled recording nodes,” and could “lead to a step-change in the efficient delivery of reservoir quality seismic data,” a statement said. Both companies will draw on their extensive seismic acquisition experience and allocate resources to the SpiceRack project. CGGVeritas will strengthen already close ties with the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,. CGGVeritas will also establish a Center of Excellence for Automation in Geophysical Acquisition within the new technology center to be jointly opened in the Dhahran Techno Valley with ARGAS, its Saudi joint venture with TAQA. The statement quoted Samer Al-Ashgar, Manager, EXPEC Advanced Research Center, Saudi Aramco, as saying that the project would augment his group's research and technology portfolio, “and is expected to deliver a game changer in automating seismic data acquisition.” Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGGVeritas, said: “We are excited to announce the launch of this major joint R&D project, which we believe has far-reaching implications for the future of our industry. We are also proud to be taking the lead in spearheading high tech geophysical research with Saudi Aramco, whom we have served as a geophysical partner for over four decades. We trust that SpiceRack will be the first of many successful R&D initiatives pursued by our two companies.” Thierry Brizard, Executive Vice President, Technology, CGGVeritas, added: “Our commitment to R&D and innovation has been an important driver throughout our 80-year history. We have a global R&D network of 550 researchers and actively pursue R&D partnerships, either with clients or with academia, to develop Integrated Technology Solutions such as SpiceRack. This strategy ensures that CGGVeritas remains at the forefront of geophysical technology.” — SG
