Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 2021)

WORKBOAT SEISMIC SURVEY VESSELS

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A SEISMIC

Despite oil prices recently edging past $80 a barrel, scars from two recent oil industry downturns in five years have forced offshore seismic surveyors to look at ways to diversify.

By Bartolomej Tomic arine seismic survey companies provide essen- The worst time for the ? eet was from the third quarter of tial data to offshore oil and gas explorers to make 2020 through March 2021, when 46% of the global ? eet was better-informed drilling decisions. However, inactive (either standby in port or stacked), Rystad said.

Mwith every oil industry downturn, seismic play- ers are among the ? rst to feel the pang, as exploration budgets (Partial) Pivot usually get cut signi? cantly and revenue streams for seismic While the market sentiment seems to be improving, pessi- data ? rms dry up. mistic long-term views on the future of oil, recent and frequent

This was particularly the case last year when the industry oil downturns, and environmental pressure, have forced seis- was hit with a double whammy: COVID-19 and a global lock- mic data companies to start looking beyond the oil and gas down that hit demand for oil plus a fallout between Russia industry. In the past year, seismic ? rms have thus started work- and OPEC that ? ooded the market with oil, sending the prices ing to diversify their offering, ? nd their role in the accelerating down even further. As expected, exploration budgets were cut, energy transition towards renewables, and make themselves and seismic players revenues were hit, with some of them, “futureproof,” by not depending solely on offshore oil and gas.

such as Polarcus, going out of business. One of the most active seismic companies in this push to

Now, with oil prices back up to around $80, the situation for diversify is Norway-based seismic data company TGS, which explorers has improved, with Rystad Energy recently report- earlier this year formed the New Energy Solutions (NES) busi- ing that vessel utilization in the offshore oil and gas seismic ness unit, to pursue opportunities related to the energy transition, data acquisition sector had reached pre-pandemic levels in the in industries contributing to the reduction of GHG emissions, third quarter of 2021. such as Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Deep Sea Mining

Rystad, which monitors the activity of 106 seismic vessels, (DSM), geothermal energy, wind energy, and solar energy.

said the seismic ? eet’s hibernation was over, with around 68% “Many of the investments required in renewable energy and of the ? eet now surveying or underway. According to Rystad, CCS have long pay-back times. It is therefore critical to make the seismic ? eet matches the utilization levels of the ? rst quar- well-informed and precise investment decisions. Our aim is to ter of 2020, before the pandemic-induced slowdown hit the be the leading provider of data and insights that help de-risk in- seismic industry. vestments and reduce the time-to-market,” TGS, which doesn’t 40 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • November 2021

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