According to the criteria, The Exploration Innovation Prize is awarded to a license group, company, team or person who during the last couple of years have given a courageous and innovative technological contribution in exploration for oil and gas on the Norwegian continental shelf.
Also, it is required that the recipient has matured an exploration technology with high potential that can potentially lead to increased knowledge of the subsurface or future commercial oil and gas discoveries.
Through a public vote, TopSeis (30%), Deep Blue (17%) and Earth Net (16%) received the most votes. On May 21, at NCS Exploration 2019, CGG/Lundin, EMGS/Equinor/ Shell and Earth Science Analytics will all present the technology they provide.
The three candidates will give a presentation on the first day of NCS Exploration (May 21).
Looking deeper
EMGS, Shell and Equinor have since 2012 worked on the Joint Industry Project (“Deep Blue”) to develop a new generation of controlled-source electromagnetic equipment. DEMO 2000 has also contributed to the project. In 2016 a prototype of the new equipment set was successfully tested offshore Norway. The first commercial survey was performed in July 2017.
Deep Blue has been used actively in Norway throughout 2018, especially for mature basin surveys in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea.
Deep Blue increases the depth of investigation well beyond the capabilities of the conventional source systems with a general depth increase of imaging capacity of 1500 meters more than the conventional system. 4500 meters is considered the “new floor” of EM imaging capability. The new source also increases imaging confidence and resolution for targets that can be detected with the conventional source system.
Deep Blue can operate in water depths up to 4,000 meters.
All data acquired with Deep Blue confirms the ability to increase sensitivity and resolution through a combination of higher source output, increased frequency bandwidth and better accuracy, which allows imaging deeper and smaller targets.
The winner is …
The jury, consisting of all members of the program committee for the NCS Exploration Conference, is therefore fully convinced that TopSeis fulfils the criteria as given above. Their final verdict, selecting a winner, will depend on the presentation given at the conference.
