Fugro Hunts for More Hydrocarbon Seeps in Gulf of Mexico

In collaboration with multi-client geoscience data company, TGS, Fugro continues to map the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico to pull together a complete picture of geological features, including hydrocarbon seeps.

This latest survey, “Otos”, follows the successful completion of another TGS industry-funded “Gigante” survey in 2016, on the Mexican side of the 1,500-kilometers wide Gulf. Fugro has deployed two state-of-the-art geophysical survey vessels to acquire multibeam echo sounder (MBES) and sub-bottom profile data over the western, central and eastern regions of the United States’ continental slope.

In water depths ranging from 750 meters to more than 4,000 meters, geoscientists on board Fugro Gauss and Fugro Brasilis will analyse seafloor bathymetry, its acoustic reflectivity, and shallow subsurface structures to identify hydrocarbon seep features on the seafloor and throughout the water column. Both vessels are equipped with hull-mounted MBES systems and the data collected will aid a subsequent geochemical coring campaign.

The final results of the Otos survey will provide novel insight into the regional-scale distribution of hydrocarbon seeps throughout the entire deepwater area of the northern Gulf of Mexico. TGS will license the data to exploration and production companies to support development activities in this prolific region.

Fugro Exploration Geoscientist, Garrett Mitchell, a member of Fugro’s dedicated Global Centre of Excellence for Seep Hunting in Houston, noted the personal and professional honour he felt to be involved in a project of this magnitude. “With the acquisition of the Otos seep survey, Fugro will have mapped almost 1,000,000 square kilometers of seep and geological features over the entire Gulf of Mexico,” he said.

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