The G.D. Nalivkin is currently in Baffin Bay acquiring 2D seismic and gravity data on the 8,800km BB07 Survey on behalf of TGS Nopec. The majority of this survey is focussed in the Greenland area but will include some lines that extend into Canadian waters. Nalivkin is the first commercial seismic vessel to work this far North in Baffin Bay towing a 6km streamer and all crew are working hard keeping an eye on the eratic tracks of the numerous icebergs. The Nalivkin is an Ice Class vessel allowing us to acquire data as far North as the ice pack allows. The survey is expected to continue until the ice sheet returns later this year.
The WGP Group continues its support of the Royal Air Force Davidstowe Moor Memorial Museum – Sep 07
RAF
Davidstowe Moor was an operational flying station between 1942 –
1945. It is situated close by WGP’s Bude offices and when a Memorial
Museum was opened at the site this year by local historian Dave Keast,,
WGP's Managing Director – John Duncan – was keen to support
the initiative. John served in the RAF for 12 years prior to joining the
geophysical exploration industry.
The
photo shows WGP staff members Terry Hibben, Neal Reay and Ross Compton
“taking it easy” after helping John to load a WW11 aero engine
on to a trailer for transportation to WGP’s warehouse for restoration
work prior to going on display at the Davidstowe Moor museum. The engine
is on loan from the Bude Town Council and was salvaged by the local sub-aqua
club. The engine is an Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah 1X and it is all that
remains from an Avro Anson Mk 1 that crash landed off the beach at Bude
in 1939.
Work
Experience at WGP extends the relationship with MAGE – August 07
Maria
Vasilyeva, granddaughter of Mr Gennady Kazanin, Managing Director of MAGE
during August 2007 attended WGP’s offices in Bude for work experience
during summer university vacation. The following passage written by Maria
provides an overview of her visit.
G.D.Nalivkin
Update – June 07
Nalivkin
has now started their summer charter with TGS Nopec AS. The vessel has
just completed a 3,000km area of their North Sea Renaissance Survey near
to the Norwegian / Danish border. The vessel will now transit North to
work on more of the NSR Survey and is expected to head for Greenland waters
around mid July.
CARSP News Update – June 07
First shooting phase complete, second cable phase nearing completion
A milestone was reached on the 19th March 2007 on the Chrirag Azeri Reservoir Seismic Project (CARSP) with the First Good Shot Point (FGSP) being acquired over the Central Azeri sensor array.
The preceding 3 months had seen the completion of the mobilisation of the cable handling equipment on the Platform Supply Vessel “Pacific Raider” in Baku, followed by the deployment of the GERI supplied Backbone and Sensor Array seabed cable around the Central Azeri platform.
Upon
completion of the cable deployment phase, the back deck of the “Pacific
Raider” was re-configured to “shooting” or “seismic
data acquisition” mode with the installation of the source array
handling frame, umbilical winch container unit and containerised compressor.
After commissioning and shake down, the vessel proceeded to the Central
Azeri platform to commence phase one of shooting operations which were
successfully completed by the 11th April 2007.
Following the first phase of shooting operations, the vessel and crew were again changed to cable mode, to commence the retrieval and redeployment of sensor cables around the Chirag platform. It is estimated that this process will be completed 3rd week of May which will signal the start of the second phase of seismic data acquisition.
“Pacific Raider” prior to outfitting - Back Deck with Cable Reels - Linear Cable Engine - APG Source & Frame
New
Activity in Russia – June 07
WGP
Projects continues to expand the Group’s long relations with various
groups in Russia
Following on from the support given to the MARINE ARCTIC GEOLOGICAL EXPEDITION (MAGE) vessel “Kurentsov” whilst working for ONGC in India last year, we have continued to help the ship prepare for new contracts this year. WGP Projects provided technical support during the Kurentsov’s dry-dock in Bremerhaven and is supplying an “as needed” technical and logistics support service for its contracts in Europe during the 2007 summer season.
WGP Projects is in the process of delivering an integrated air gun system to Gelendzhik on the Russian Black Sea for YUZHMORGEOLOGIYA (YMG). This is the second system that we have provided to YMG in support of their growing marine transition zone survey activity. The gun system is based on Bolt Technology 1900LL and 2800LL air guns.
Work
in the Local Community – June 07
The
WGP Group is privileged to be based in Cornwall in the South West of the
UK, and we are always keen to play our part in activities that benefit
the local community.
A current project focuses on the conservation and exhibition of a World War Two aircraft engine salvaged from the sea by Bude Sub-Aqua Club in the early 1990s. The engine came from an Avro Anson that crash landed in the sea in 1939. It will be displayed at the new RAF Davidstow Moor Museum when conservation work is completed in August this year. The old Davidstow RAF base is located on Bodmin Moor, about 12 kilometres from our Bude offices.
A poignant footnote to this story is the fact that the pilot was the only casualty of the crash landing after returning to the sinking aircraft to retrieve the dinghy paddles. He was the first New Zealand casualty of the Second World War.
New
Premises in 2008 – June 07
Subject
to the granting of necessary Planning Consent, WGP will be moving to new
premises in 2008.If the move gets the green light, we will be offering
some unique rest and recreation facilities for our clients. Watch this
space!
G.D.Nalivkin
Update – April 07
The
Nalivkin has now successfully completed all projects in W. Africa. On
finishing the Hess survey offshore Ghana the vessel went back to work
for PGS and it was announced that phase 3 of the survey would also be
completed which was done so in a safe and timely manner. The Nalivkin
then conducted a small 500km survey in block 100 offshore the Côte
d'Ivoire on behalf of YAMS Petroleum LLC. Both crews have worked extremely
hard during our time in Africa and must be commended for their efforts
while operating in these waters.
WGP has now signed up the vessel to a 7 month charter with TGS Nopec AS. It is likely that the vessel will work in the North Sea on their North Sea Renaissance Survey. Transit North has started and it is anticipated that work will start around week 16 for 2 months and will then head for Greenland waters.
Environmental
Update – April 07
To
aid project planning and reporting, WGP now employ Geographical Information
System (GIS) technology. The use of GIS facilitates management decisions
based on efficient analysis of both environmental and human factors. A
range of spatially referenced data can be integrated in order to identify
any challenges presented by any given survey, such as areas of shallow
water, high fishing activity, marine mammal diversity and so forth.
WGP
Group 2007 Outlook – Jan 07
The WGP Groups aim for 2007 is to maintain its niche market position that
offers seismic data acquisition and project management services that are
useful equally to oil companies, multi-client data companies and the larger
seismic contractors.
John Duncan, Chairman and CEO of the WGP Group, said “Identifying our niche in the current busy market is a challenge in itself. However, whatever development and growth plans we implement, we will always ensure that we do not become a competitor to the larger companies. History shows that in any normalisation of the seismic market in the future, the main competitive pressures are at the top end of the marine 3D market, and we have no desire to join that fight”.
WGP will maintain its policy of carefully planned expansion during 2007 and will not be forced into any accelerated development by current industry condition. Plans include the construction of a Versatile Seismic Vessel, extension of the co-operation with MAGE in Russia (including renewal of the charter for the 2D vessel G.D.Nalivkin), consolidation of the work on 4D/4C reservoir monitoring with BP in the Caspian, expansion of gravity data services and the re-launch of the Group’s environmental activities under the OceanEar banner.
All in all, a busy year ahead!
G.D.Nalivkin
Update – Jan 07
After completion
of the vessel’s dry docking, the Nalivkin started the transit through
adverse weather conditions to Africa to begin a survey for PGS offshore
the République de Côte d'Ivoire. The first stage of the survey
comprises of 2,500kms which the vessel has started well working in good
weather conditions. PGS has confirmed that they will proceed with the
second stage of this survey that will commence after the vessel has completed
a separate project offshore Ghana.
The survey offshore Ghana is to be completed on behalf of ‘Hess Ghana Exploration Ltd’ and is a 2D survey of approximately 1,100kms in the Cape Three Points South Block, offshore Ghana. The vessel will mobilise out of Takoradi in Ghana and we hope to complete it in good time.
In addition to seismic data acquisition for both projects the vessel will be acquiring Magnetic and Gravity data - a service available to all clients in the marine geophysical industry at very competitive prices. If you are interested in the magnetic and gravity services offered by WGP please see the section titled Mag & Grav on our website.
For the survey in Ghanaian waters, OceanEar Ltd will be providing Marine Mammal Observers complete with a Passive Acoustic Monitoring System to mitigate against potential disturbance to marine mammals during the completion of the survey.
Environmental
Update – Jan 07
OceanEar,
part of the WGP Group, is pleased to confirm that the newly developed
MMO course scheduled for the 26th-28th January has been approved by the
US Minerals Management Service. Delegates will now be qualified to work
as MMOs in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the UK sector. The first course
is now fully booked, with further dates likely to be set for later in
the Spring.
