Annual Report 2011 - PGS

Operations
Marine Contract
Efficiency and Productivity Leadership
Complete Marine Contract Product Offering
Expanding Marine Contract business
Surveying with the
highest productivity
available, positions
Marine Contract to
deliver among the
highest profit margins
in the industry
Seismic Data under
Exclusive Client
Contracts
Despite healthy bidding volumes, pricing
for marine contract work in 2011 remained
depressed throughout the year as a result of
excess industry supply.
The Marine Contract business unit acquires
seismic data under exclusive contracts with its
customers, who retain ownership of the survey
data. In 2011, PGS used 72 percent of active
vessel capacity for marine contract seismic
work. Creation of growth opportunities for PGS
through commercialization of new technology
and business ideas is also a function of the
Marine Contract business unit. Key new
ventures are PGS’ towed EM solution and
OptoSeis ® , a fiber-optic seismic monitoring
system that is permanently installed at a
producing field.
Aiming High
PGS’ vision is to be the industry’s best
geophysical supplier; the Company’s mission
is providing reliable, on time and on budget
delivery of seismic data, with a global presence
to meet customer needs using leading-edge
technology.
PGS has gained considerable respect in the
international marine contract market as a result
of the Company’s distinctive focus on specially
designed seismic vessels that can tow the
largest streamer spreads in the industry. The
ability to tow large, dense streamer spreads, as
well as rapid streamer deployment and retrieval
systems, are critical factors that secure
seismic acquisition efficiency and reliable on
time delivery of seismic data. PGS’ Ramform
vessels are uniquely designed to excel at
seismic tasks. Measured in terms of cost per
streamer per day, no other fleet in the industry
delivers better productivity than the PGS
fleet. Surveying with the highest productivity
available, positions Marine Contract to deliver
among the highest profit margins in the
industry.
HD3D
High Density 3D (HD3D) seismic is a premium
seismic data product that addresses a broad
range of challenges in exploration, reservoir
description and reservoir monitoring (4D).
There are several ways to acquire HD3D. The
most common HD3D technique is to use a
narrower streamer separation than the 100
meters typically used for exploration seismic.
Acquisition techniques such as Wide-Azimuth,
Multi-Azimuth and repetitive 4D surveying are
integral to PGS’ HD3D product range.
Measured in vessel months, HD3D activity
accounted for approximately 35 percent of the
total seismic market in 2011. Approximately 55
percent of PGS’ Ramform vessel months were
dedicated to this segment, while competition
generally allocates around 30 percent. Demand
is more stable for HD3D, especially 4D
surveying, than the demand for conventional
3D seismic. The cost effective high-end
Ramform fleet is optimally suited to perform
HD3D surveys. PGS will continue to invest in
additional HD3D capabilities, new technologies
and efficiency enhancements.
New Ventures
While seismic data yields an image of the
subsurface geology’s structure, EM data
16 PGS Annual Report 2011