BSP surveys Champion West for data change

BRUNEI SHELL PETROLEUM (BSP) announced it will be undertaking a 4D marine seismic monitor survey in the Champion West area to identify subtle changes in data in hydrocarbon reserves four years since the last 3D survey was conducted.

BSP conducted a 3D survey in the Champion West block, located offshore on the northwest coast of Borneo in 2005 as part of a marine seismic survey programme that will be completed in July or August this year, it said in a media statement released yesterday.

A 3D survey in the Champion Northeast area conducted earlier is also being acquired as a baseline that could be used for a future 4D survey. The largest of the programme's three marine seismic surveys will take place at Egret, northeast of the Fairley field, which partly serves to improve on older data as well as establish a 4D baseline for future works.

The survey will be undertaken by geophysical contractor Petroleum Geo-Services Asia Pacific with its Ramform Explorer vessel, which will be towing an array of eight parallel steamer cables each up to six kilometres in length and spaced 50m apart.

BSP has warned yachtsmen and divers to keep clear of the said areas as the survey vessel can turn only very slowly when the seismic streamers are deployed, and at which point it will be unable to come to a complete stop.

Fishermen have also been asked to keep their boats and equipment clear of the areas during the surveys, which are expected to begin today. BSP has also requested a notice to mariners to warn other shipping operators of the potential hazards. Hadi DP MahmudThe Brunei Times