ION expands ArcticSPAN seismic program to offshore Greenland

ION Geophysical has acquired 6,500 km of regional seismic data for sponsoring E&P clients in the Danmarkshavn Basin offshore northeastern Greenland, adding to the 5,300 km of data the company acquired there last season.

ION said that the Danmarkshavn Basin is one of the least explored, most prospective basins in the Arctic region, an area the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates could contain nearly 25% of the world's undiscovered oil and gas resources.

ION once again deployed its purpose-designed marine streamer technology to acquire data in the presence of ice. Together, ION's Intelligent Acquisition toolkit and Arctic program management expertise enabled the company to acquire data further north and in the presence of heavier ice than had been previously possible, at the same time mitigating HSE risk and reducing cycle time. As a result, the company is now confident that it has expanded the Arctic operational season to six months, dramatically longer than the industry's traditional acquisition season of one to two months.

Joe Gagliardi, ION's Arctic Solutions and Technology director, said, "This extension to our Greenland regional program was designed to provide a better understanding of high potential petroleum systems including the North Danmarkshavn Salt Basin, the Northeast Greenland Volcanic Province, and the Thetis Basin. The success of the 2010 expansion serves as further confirmation of the viability and value of our proprietary in-ice Arctic solution."

ION's ArcticSPAN program now includes more than 40,000 km of deeply imaged seismic data in the Arctic region covering the Beaufort-MacKenzie, Banks Island, Chukchi, East Greenland Rift, and Danmarkshavn Basins. Together, this data provide E&P companies with an understanding of the relationships among micro basins in the area, which they can use to more effectively assess the Arctic's hydrocarbon potential, identify new opportunities, and mitigate exploration risk.