Over the last 30 years, TGS has been most active in the established markets of Angola, Nigeria and Egypt resulting in significant data libraries and dozens of individual surveys in each country. Today our clients in those markets are also investing in 4D seismic and we are pushing the boundaries of technology to improve imaging in known but complex geological settings. In fact, with processing technology advances we can take an imaging leap forward by combining reprocessed older data with newly acquired data.
Just as important for the longer term is where we invest in new multiclient data in frontier basins. This is guided by our own geoscience team and in cooperation with our government partners. It can take time, but as an example, our investment in 3D in Cote D’Ivoire has proven to be well located to support the industry’s accelerated exploration efforts following the Calao discovery. It is exciting to see how the successes in the deepwater Aptian-Albian play in the Orange Basin are stimulating thinking and investment in similar settings around the continent. With knowledge also gained from analogous discoveries on the other side of the Atlantic, we see a great opportunity for our industry in many countries along the West Africa coast.
The most recent discoveries in West Africa show us that a combination of good-quality data, new ideas, and a little bravery are critical to unlocking the continent's oil and gas resources. As oil companies explore in deeper water it is more important than ever that drilling decisions are based on the best data possible. Time to first oil is critically important and the industry can no longer afford the extra time for multiple seismic surveys. If a discovery is made, it is very important that development drilling can be planned with the same data.
Many of the most recent African discoveries are a combination of stratigraphic traps or more subtle anomalies on seismic, that don’t leap out from the interpreter’s workstation. In these settings, it is more important than ever that seismic data is of a quality that will allow robust quantitative analysis to illuminate similar prospects. The same can be said for 4D seismic, absolutely critical to stem production decline and where survey repeatability is paramount to enable confidence in planning in-fill wells and injection schemes.
Lastly, it is important to recognise that older surveys can also re-ignite interest in exploring a region! By combining datasets together, as we have done with the development of West Africa MegaSurveys to support basin screening and the systematic reprocessing of data using the latest imaging technology, the industry gains wider basin understanding and new imaging insight in a fraction of the time. Ideal for attracting new investors into a region.
TGS acquired our first seismic survey in Africa in 1994. It was a 3D MultiClient project in Nigeria, with our newest vessel the Atlantic Explorer towing what was then a state-of-the-art 6-streamer spread.
In the intervening 30 years, we have acquired over 250 surveys around the continent. Of those, 25% were acquired as MultiClient projects resulting in close to 250 000 sq. km of 3D and 75 000 line km of 2D available for licensing and the proprietary surveys combined cover a significantly larger area. The TGS seismic acquisition technology has advanced to the point that we now routinely tow five times as many kilometers of streamer and spreads that are five times as wide as that first survey in the Niger Delta.
The 1994 Nigerian MultiClient survey I referred to earlier was TGS’ first investment in seismic outside of the North Sea and within the first year of our foray into the MultiClient business. We have frequently showcased new technology advances in Africa first, which speaks volumes to our confidence in the markets and also the attitude and support of our government and oil company partners.
As examples, our first GeoStreamer 3D project was in Congo in 2009, we acquired a Simultaneous Long Offset (SLO) project in Ghana as early as 2012, acquired ground-breaking WAZ surveys offshore Angola in 2009 and deployed spreads as wide as 1 800 m in South Africa to maximize acquisition efficiency using our Titan-class vessels. Multicomponent GeoStreamer data has proven critical not just for imaging quality but our ability to tow deeper has ensured continuous acquisition and uncompromised data quality despite the often-harsh African operating environment. Technology has also helped us stay on top of increasing environmental challenges such as the increase in barnacles offshore Africa. We have developed a unique ROV-deployed streamer cleaning device and a TGS streamer coating system to inhibit barnacle build-up and our research continues.
In more recent times, we have worked closely with clients to develop acquisition configurations to solve deeper and more complex imaging challenges. Around Africa that has included the use of multiple source vessels, considering wide-tow source configurations and the use of extended frequency sources. TGS completed the first commercial seismic survey to use the Gemini Source in 2022 in African waters and has undertaken more projects since.
The TGS core values are ‘Dedicated. Reliable. Pioneer’, and I believe all these aspects of our company’s character are demonstrated in our work in Africa.
As the statistics above demonstrate, we have certainly focused and led the seismic industry in many parts of the continent and this is, in no small part, down to the dedication of our employees based in Africa. We are rightly proud to build local presence and support local industry development in the places where we have benefited as a company.
We are also proud that our clients return to working with TGS time and time again and though there are many factors in their decision making, we are confident that our ability to deliver data quality on time is important to them. In harsh operating environments and with time pressures, we believe our ability to operate safely and deliver data on time is a winning combination.
I have already commented on technology firsts in Africa, but worth highlighting that relentless innovation isn’t just about acquisition technology and safe operations and imaging advances, but it also includes new ways of working. We are constantly reviewing business models, fuelled by the inherent flexibility of our data in the Cloud and by the opportunities afforded by new satellite technology and what it could mean for data management and delivery from our vessels. I am sure that thirst for innovation won’t change.
The TGS team are quietly confident that we are moving into the age where E&P in Africa is accelerating. That is firstly fuelled by the obvious demand on the continent for cost effective and reliable energy, but also because of the increasing realism about the timing of the energy transition and the longer term need for hydrocarbon production. Provided the industry is open to investment from new players and we do everything in our power to make it easy and transparent to invest, then we can look forward to substantial growth for the E&P industry in Africa!