Major seismic survey to be conducted offshore Angola

Jan. 5, 1998 Western Geophysical has begun a major speculative seismic survey of approximately 10,000 km in offshore Angola. The seismic data, covering open acreage in both deepwater and nearshore blocks, is scheduled to be available during the licensing round in 1998.
The industry has experienced a major upturn in drilling activity in Angolan deep waters during the past 18 months, resulting in a number of significant oil discoveries such as Girassol and Dahlia. These discoveries, plus the increased activity in the entire West Africa deepwater region, have led to a significant interest in further exploration in these areas.
Western Geophysical's 2D vessel, M/V Cove, has begun data acquisition using a 6000 m, 24-bit digital streamer, sleeve air guns, and Western's onboard seismic processing system. The survey is designed to cover approximately 5000 km of nearshore blocks 26 to 30, which is an infill of a 1997 programme. The balance is a 5000 km programme designed to describe salt limits to the west of all the existing deepwater blocks.