Putin approved the construction of vessels for seismic exploration under sanctions. DNV classifies seismic vessels New technologies are the future

Seismic Survey Ship is the best seismic survey vessel in the world. Length 104.2 m, width at the stern 70 m, displacement 8000 tons, speed 16 knots, 24 winches with cables with a total length of 12 km. It tows several hundred thousand electronic sensors behind it, covering an area of ​​more than 12 square kilometers. Crew 80 Built in Japan at the Mitsubishi Nagasaki shipyard.

In 2012, the Norwegian seismic company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) placed an order for the construction of two W-class Ramform vessels with the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The vessels are representatives of a new, or rather, fifth generation of the Ramform series.

The SSS Ramform class is the most powerful and efficient marine seismic survey vessel ever built. They are also the widest.

These vessels bring together advanced marine technology and GeoStreamer's marine seismic capabilities. The entire stern of the ship, 70 m wide, is occupied by 24 drums with seismic streamers. 16 of them are located on the same line, and 8 more are slightly ahead. Increased workspace and advanced equipment make ship operations safer and more functional.

For PGS and its customers, faster deployment and retrieval of equipment and extended time at sea means faster completion of seismic surveys and increased uptime in adverse weather conditions. The period between entering the shipyard for repairs has also been increased by 50%.

The vessel carries over 6,000 tons of fuel and equipment. As a rule, it tows a network of several hundred thousand seismic sensors behind it, covering an area of ​​​​more than 12 square meters. km, which is equivalent to 1,500 football fields or three and a half Central Parks in New York.

Ships of the "SSS Ramform" type provide safe and comfortable accommodation, as well as a working environment for 80 crew members. There are 60 single cabins on board, as well as 10 double cabins for visitors with separate bathrooms.

The Ramform type is characterized by an unusual delta-shaped hull in plan with a wide stern. The first vessel of this type was the long-range sonar surveillance vessel Maryata, built for the Norwegian Navy back in the 90s. The PGS engineering team notes the high level of seismic information collection of such a vessel, which is ensured by the delta-shaped hull. Vessels sail under the Flag of the Bahamas.

John Eric Reinhardsen, President and CEO of PGS, commented: “The SSS Ramform Titan takes seismic exploration to the next level. We have combined the most advanced technology with the most powerful and efficient vessel in the industry. "SSS Ramform Titan" will add to our fleet and further strengthen the company's position in the market, giving us an advantage for the next 10 years."

High-resolution seismic is becoming more and more popular due to the rapid growth of the deepwater drilling industry, especially in challenging areas such as Brazil, West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.

Seismic survey vessels, the construction of which at domestic shipyards was approved by President Vladimir Putin, will be designed with the involvement of foreign designers, since Russian experience in this matter is insufficient. Sergey Suchkov, Deputy General Director, Managing Director of PJSC Rosgeologiya, told this to a Morvesti.Ru correspondent at the Arctic: From Forecasts to Development forum, which was held in Moscow.

Earlier it was reported that President Vladimir Putin approved the construction in Russia of two vessels for seismic exploration on the Arctic shelf for 15 billion rubles. through the budget.

“Under the current conditions of the sanctions regime, the Russian Federation as a whole is able to provide itself with the full implementation of the volume of seismic work in 2D format at the expense of the existing fleet and equipment in the period up to 2018,” says Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin (who oversees issues related to mining fossils) sent on July 12 to President Vladimir Putin.

In the 3D seismic segment, the situation is “more critical,” he warns: existing capacities can provide no more than 20% of the market. In addition, the average age of ships is 28 years, the wear and tear of the scientific fleet exceeds 80%.

“3-D seismic exploration in Russia is completely dependent on foreign companies, because the domestic fleet is too weak,” Sergey Suchukov said at the Arctic: From Forecasts to Development forum. – The fleet of seismic exploration that exists in Russia today consists of only two vessels. One is located at the Sovcomflot company, this is the Vyacheslav Tikhonov, equipped with eight streamers. This is not enough, the technology can already be considered backward, especially for extremely limited periods of work in the North. It is difficult to carry out a large exploration area on this ship in the short season that researchers have at their disposal in the Arctic. Next, there is another 3-D seismic survey vessel. This is "Academician Nemchinov", which is on the balance sheet of "Rosgeologia", and which has only four braids. Such a vessel can only carry out small volumes of seismic surveys.”

In 2005–2015, 3D seismic surveys were carried out in Russia on only 70,000 sq. m. km, which is 1.2% of the Russian continental shelf. To carry out the “required volume” of 3D seismic surveys, the Deputy Prime Minister proposes to put into operation at least two Arctic-class vessels “with predominantly domestic navigation and seismic equipment” in 2019.

“Seismic exploration carried out by foreign vessels is contrary to the principle of ensuring safety, because it is a leak of data about the Russian shelf during work,” Sergey Suchkov added.

The construction of a modern vessel for 3D seismic exploration will cost about $200 million (12.5 billion rubles at the current exchange rate), Yury Ampilov, professor of the Moscow State University Department of Seismometry and Geoacoustics, said in an interview with RBC. Due to the crisis in the world, 70% of such ships are not used, half of which were built recently. Each such vessel could be bought for about $50 million, which is four times cheaper than building a new one, he points out. But due to international sanctions, now Russia cannot buy ships equipped with specialized seismic equipment.

Initially, dynamite served as a sound source for marine seismic surveys.

In view of its obvious danger, later pneumatic guns were used as a source. The accumulation of seismic data is the mapping of underwater structure in the constant search for hydrocarbons. At first, the shape of the data was two-dimensional.

The data were obtained using a single hose seismic streamer (or simply - a streamer, it is also a streamer, from the English "streamer") and one signal source.

Later, a new method for 3D mapping was developed. To do this, they strive to install as many streamers as possible, to cover a large area, as much as possible. The vessel under consideration "Vyacheslav Tikhonov" has 8 streamers for data acquisition (this is not the maximum number, there are vessels with a large number of streamers).

The data acquisition method can be compared to a very large echo sounder. The sound signal is sent by the air gun down to the seabed, and then the towed cable picks up the echoes, which are recorded.

The length of one streamer on the ship "Vyacheslav Tikhonov" is 6,000 meters long (precisely meters, not cable and other marine units). Putting the braids into working condition and their selection at the end of the measurements is not a quick matter, it takes several days. At the same time, as during measurements, the vessel must follow a strictly defined course at a fixed speed (in this mode, the operating speed is about 5 knots).
Because it is quite difficult and tiring for a person to maintain such a clear course and speed, the ship has a dynamic positioning (DP) system that allows you to perform this task automatically.
Navigators mainly monitor the navigation situation, establish communication with ships to ensure safe divergence, etc. The turning radius in survey mode is a few miles to keep the streamers from getting tangled up. The ship's heading command is given from the seismological laboratory on the ship.

Also, to ensure safe separation from other vessels, to prevent damage to towed streamers (by the way, the cost of one streamer with all the equipment is about $ 2 million) and other auxiliary tasks, two tracking vessels (in English - chase boats).
There is also one support vessel for the delivery of supplies and crew, for bunkering and other support tasks.
In order to successfully fulfill these tasks, the research vessel must maintain reliable and constant communication with the tracking vessels, inform them in a timely manner of its plans.

As mentioned above, turning in the survey mode is quite a challenge. With a distance between the outer streamers of 800 meters, the turning radius must be a minimum of 4,000 meters, increasing in bad weather to 5,000 meters. When turning with a radius of 5 km, the rate of turn should be 3 degrees per minute. It should be noted that the trajectory of the turn is strongly influenced by weather conditions and the state of the sea. When turning, navigators are guided by the position of paravanes - towed streamer diverters.

In the survey mode, it is necessary to watch for other vessels and ask them to leave the area, not only because of the threat of a collision or damage to the streamers. With the close passage of another vessel, especially a large one, the quality of measurements is lost, because the integrity of the sound source is violated. Therefore, if it is not possible to reach an agreement with another vessel for any reason regarding the separation at a large distance, then it is advisable to disperse closer and faster.
Because measurements will still be violated, and it is necessary to minimize contact time in order to save time for measurements. It was noted that when passing offshore terminals where large tankers with a dynamic positioning system are loaded, even at a distance of 12 miles, the measurements will be actually destroyed, and you will have to make a second call when the tanker moves away from the berth.

If there is another seismological vessel in the area, then its operation may affect the operation of our vessel at a distance of about 80 miles. Therefore, in such cases, in order not to interfere with each other's work, they agree on a measurement schedule. For example, there were cases when 8 vessels were operating simultaneously in the North Sea.

According to project developer Ulstein, the hull shape patented as the Ulstein X-Bow, together with a diesel-electric propulsion system, provides exceptional efficiency in terms of fuel consumption, seaworthiness and speed.
However, despite the commercial on youtube (comparative race of two boats in stormy conditions), the application of the concept here does not seem entirely justified. I proceed from a purely practical assessment and my vision, purely IMHO.

Namely: my very meager knowledge of hull hydrodynamics tells me that the contours will work at speeds close to full, but in any way above average.
The operating speed of this vessel in the measurement mode (the main purpose of the vessel) is 4-5 knots. During my presence on board, at a speed of 4.5 knots, it swayed rather unpleasantly up to 5 degrees of heel, with very light seas and a wind of 7 m / s. The crew said that when working in the profile (taking measurements), with the equipment overboard, the wave hit the nose from below with the nose thrown up, with all the "ensuing" consequences for the least sea-resistant crew members.

The rowing plant includes two controllable pitch propellers (CPP). Each propeller is driven by a 4,800 kW asynchronous motor controlled by a water-cooled frequency converter. The transmission of rotation to the screw is carried out through a gearbox.

The vessel is equipped with bow and stern tunnel thrusters, as well as a retractable azimuth thruster (Compass Thruster) in the bow.

Vessel length 84 m, beam 17 m, maximum draft 6 m. Deadweight at maximum draft is 2,250 tons.

According to the specification, the ship's speed at 100% load on each screw, with a clean hull and calm water, should be approximately 18.5 knots.

On board the seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov

On board a seismic vessel

The view from the nose is quite aggressive and suggests that it’s better not to get caught on the way, otherwise it will chop with a stem.

View of the ship's forecastle

The main means of rescue are inflatable rafts, the containers of which are located on both sides

Due to the ship's compactness, there are no lifeboats.

The stern part is fully technological - on the deck there is a helipad, below deck there is a place for seismic equipment.

Aft part of the ship

So the X-nose (X-bow) cuts through the water surface. True, the sea is calm and the speed is not high

The bridge has closed wings, both for the convenience of ship control and due to the ice class of the ship.

Because the tank is completely closed; to ensure mooring operations, the vessel is equipped with folding platforms.

Such a cool balcony in front of the bridge. In principle, the largest free space on the deck, but there is practically no use for it.

The mast of modern ships serves to accommodate radio navigation equipment and navigation lights.

The vessel is equipped with a working boat to service seismic equipment overboard and other auxiliary tasks.

This view aft opens from the left wing of the navigation bridge. From this place you can fully control the movement of the vessel.

There is little space on deck. There is a faucet in the center. To the right of the board (on the left in the photo) is a foam station for extinguishing the helipad and what suddenly fell on it, if anything.

Aft view. The mast with stern lights is hinged, like all helipad fencing. The side edges of the platform are raised. The grid on the site is not spread, because the helicopter is not yet expected.

Due to the diverters hanging on the sides, the ship cannot just moor to the pier, so fenders are included in the standard equipment. They also apply if another vessel needs to come aboard, for example for bunkering.

Spare diverter takes up a lot of space

Containers with rafts

A working boat in a regular traveling position. It looks quite cheerful

The boat is being lifted on board

Although the ship is not equipped with lifeboats for the crew, nevertheless, there is a fast boat on board, the main purpose is to save a person overboard.

It is always lowered to a ready position for quick launching if a work boat is on the water...

To be quick to help when needed.

The interior of the seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov

Interior spaces

Let's start with the wheelhouse, aka the navigation bridge, from where the ship's movement is controlled.

The main navigation panel includes propulsion unit controls, radar and electronic cartography posts, VHF communication consoles and other auxiliary crap.

Control panel for propeller engines, of which there are already two on board (electric, if anything). The propellers are used with variable pitch (CVP), the left indicator shows the propeller pitch as a percentage, and the right indicator shows its revolutions.

The knob with the knob at the top of the photo is the control of the azimuth (that means it rotates 360 degrees) thruster. Moreover, it is retractable, and when not in use, it is simply removed into the body (more precisely, within its contours).

Auxiliary consoles are installed on both wings for better control of the vessel in various possible special cases.

They contain all the necessary consoles for controlling the propulsion unit and rudders.

Remote controls for propulsion and rudders

The vessel is equipped with a number of watertight doors, the control panel with signaling their position is also located on the bridge.

Because navigation display (Conning Display). In principle, a thing can even be useless, because. here, all the main indicators that are already on the panel are simply duplicated, but they are all brought together in one place that can be covered with a glance.

On this vessel, DP is mainly used to accurately keep the vessel at a given speed on course during seismic surveys.

The stupid feature (IMHO, of course) of the vessel is that there is no steering wheel. Absolutely not. Even his kind. I do not know why. The issue of controlling two rudders from one steering wheel has long been resolved, the reason is something else. Maybe the fact that most of the time the ship will operate in dynamic positioning mode? Yeah, it was smooth on paper but forgot about the ravines.

As a result, the steering position is absolutely uncomfortable. Do you see those two peepholes on the right in the photo, immediately below the position indicators for the rudder blades? ;-) Here they control the rudders. You can separately, or you can control both at once from one pipochka. Management is sharpened on the left hand.

Luxurious panoramic windows (not to be called portholes) from the deck to the ceiling provide an excellent view in all directions.

Part of the crew lives in rather cramped double cabins (each, however, is equipped with a private bathroom with a shower, each cabin has access to the Internet (of course, the speed is low - satellite Internet is still an expensive toy), a TV connected to a satellite TV system, a DVD player ).

Deck below are pneumatic guns

Well, let's finish the round in the dining room team. Canteen mixed, for the entire crew. "Sharpened" under the buffet. Two cooks and two assistants (as they are called - barmaids) prepare food for a crew of 50 people.

Engine room of a seismic vessel Vyacheslav Tikhonov

Engine room

Here it is precisely machine (MO), and not machine-boiler (MKO), because there are no auxiliary boilers. Of course, there are waste boilers, but they do not count. ;-) And the boilers are not for a simple reason - on this ship it is not necessary to heat fuel oil. For a very simple reason - it does not apply here.
Instead - diesel fuel. In short, on the one hand, it is more expensive to operate in terms of fuel, but on the other hand, the fuel system is much simpler and more reliable, and the ship is also more environmentally friendly in terms of emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere. Diesel engines are also equipped with a system for reducing the concentration of harmful substances (HV) in exhaust gases (despite the fact that even without its use, the content of HM is within acceptable limits today).

Let's start the inspection from the CPU (central control post). He is here outside the Moscow Region, so there is even a porthole (he did not get into the frame, however). The ship has video surveillance cameras, both internal and external, the central control panel has a control panel and a display, you can see the picture from any camera.

The main task of the mechanic in the central control room is to control the operation and condition of the power plant, for which a monitoring and alarm system is installed. 4 displays are connected to two workstations, each can display its own picture.

You can also output the desired parameters to an analogue of the recorder, this is convenient when some kind of malfunction is analyzed or the PID controller is tuned, for example.

The console has its own control panel for propeller engines, similar to the one on the bridge.

The ship is an electric ship. To provide energy, 4 diesel generators with a capacity of 2,850 kW each were installed. The electrical system is quite interesting (designed by Vartsila). Tires 690V are divided into 4 sections. The system can be divided into two independent parts, the halves of which are interconnected through special transformers to reduce harmful harmonics (perhaps you should not delve further into the description).

All control of the power plant is carried out from this screen

Let's get into the car. Directly in front of the entrance to it is the main switchboard (main switchboard). As in the picture, it is also physically divided into two halves (these are all questions of increasing survivability). Because control of the power plant is also possible from here, a passive overview screen is installed showing the current configuration of the power plant.

Shield for 400V - separate. Also available for 220V.

The operating parameters of the generators can be viewed on the respective panels.

This screen shows the complete configuration of the power plant, including propellers and thrusters, as well as seismic compressors.

Two 4,800 kW propeller engines were installed, as well as two tunnel thrusters (bow and stern) and a retractable azimuth thruster.

Well, since we are talking about a car, I will mention ARSCH (emergency shield) and ADG (emergency diesel generator). This installation, however, is outside the MO, as well as on conventional ships - SOLAS requirements.

Let's get into the car. It is separated from the shield by a watertight clinket door. A view of the diesels opens. MO is small and cramped in places, it was quite difficult to photograph in places to get some more or less general plans.

There are narrow passages between the diesels, and you often have to bend down / bend so as not to run into another obstacle while rummaging through the MO.

All diesels have a local panel showing the main operating parameters.

Suddenly! TNVD (high pressure fuel pump) diesel. Such a pump is installed on each cylinder, of which there are as many as 9 pieces on these diesel engines each.

Diesel generators are located unequally - two are turned to the bow, and two to the stern. Fire extinguishers are everywhere. There is also a stationary volumetric fire extinguishing system, as well as an ordinary fire water main.

For each diesel engine there is a pair (one in operation, one in reserve) of fuel pumps (blue in the photo) and water cooling pumps (gray). By the way, this power plant does not use circulating seawater cooling (an exception is the cooling of seismic compressors).

There is no separate room for fuel and oil separators, the separators are located near the diesel generators.

A bilge water treatment plant is also located here.

There are two desalination plants on the sides - we get fresh water from sea water.

Starting air compressors. They provide air for starting diesel engines, as well as for various needs.

Air is pumped into cylinders (receivers), from where it is already distributed to consumers.

If we go from the diesel compartment to the bow, through the clinket door, we will get into the bow compartment.

A retractable azimuth thruster is located here. In the retracted position - the motor is raised.

Just behind it in the nose is a bow tunnel thruster, the picture shows its human-sized electric motor.

And if we go from the diesel compartment to the stern, then, also through a waterproof door, we first get into a corridor, where (on the right in the photo) there is a room for a retractable sonar device.

Here it is, in the extended position under the vldu. Extends up to two meters.

To transfer rotation to the propeller shaft, a gearbox is installed.

The screws here are not simple, but with an adjustable pitch (VRSh). In the event of a malfunction of the control system from the bridge or the CPU, control from the local post is possible, for which an emergency telegraph is also installed to receive commands from the bridge.

If even this socket breaks somehow, then you can change the step directly from the mechanism.

The rowing motor can also be controlled from a local post - directly from a frequency converter.

MO doesn't end there. You can climb up the stairs.

And, bypassing a couple of rooms with auxiliary equipment, we find ourselves in a compartment with three seismic compressors.

Devices inspire! Compress air up to 150 atmospheres.

Compressor local control panel (main control is from the CPU).

We find ourselves in the stern thruster room, past which you can squeeze into the tiller compartment, where the steering machines are located.

And its hydraulic system. from there emergency control can be carried out. It’s just that you’ll have to squat, because there’s no other way to get there.

Time for action or missed opportunities?

SEISMIC SURVEY.
TIME FOR ACTION OR MISSED OPPORTUNITIES?

Ju. AMPILOV, M. TOKAREV, Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov

Seismic exploration, one of the most informative geophysical methods for studying the earth's crust, helps to significantly reduce the cost of exploratory drilling. Seismic exploration allows you to look deep into the earth's crust and detect productive layers, which can be at a depth of thousands of meters. About the study of shelf territories by 2D and 3D seismic surveys, about the possibilities of using specialized vessels for these purposes, about their needs for Russia and the world - a detailed study of the authors.

Seismic survey are reduce the cost of drilling helps the seismic survey is one of the most informative methods of geophysical studies of the earth’s crust. Seismic survey allows to look deep into the earth’s crust and to detect productive layers that may be located at a depth of thousands of meters. About the scrutiny of offshore territories of 2D and 3D seismic survey on the possibilities of use for these purposes, specialized courts, about their need for these goals – detailed research of the author.

Modern seismic vessels on the world market and their loading

Due to the current oil crisis, exploration activity on the world shelf has dropped significantly. This most clearly demonstrates the need for drilling rigs. So, back in 2013 it was impossible to find a free jack-up rig on the market even at a daily rate of 600 thousand US dollars. Today, such installations are ready to work from 150 thousand dollars a day, but many people fail to find work even at such a price (Fig. 1).
As a result of a multiple decrease in geological exploration activity on the shelf almost everywhere, the number of operating offshore drilling rigs in the world decreased over 2 years from 460 to 320 (Fig. 2). Since seismic exploration usually precedes drilling, a certain seismic backlog has been created, which has not yet been implemented in most companies. Therefore, seismic exploration activity has decreased in relative volumes even more than exploration drilling. Let's consider a few specific facts, otherwise let's analyze the employment of the seismic fleet. On fig. 3 shows the evolution of modern foreign seismic vessels since 1993.
To date, the degree of technological equipment and seaworthiness of specialized seismic vessels has reached perfection. They have a much lower noise level than conventional ships, increased stability to rolling, advanced equipment, and many of them are powerful on-board computer systems, often exceeding coastal computer centers in terms of power. This applies, for example, to the Ramform-class vessels of the PGS company (Fig. 4), as well as to the single boiler vessels of the WG and CGG companies.
And the 5th generation of the Ramform Titan class, three of which have already been launched in the last 2 years, significantly exceed the capabilities of their predecessors from the S class, shown in Fig. 4. They can tow up to 24 streamers up to 12 km each, and the autonomy of such vessels is 150 days. Another thing is that companies do not order works with 24-wire so far, because then the conditions for competition in tenders will not be ensured due to the uniqueness of vessels of this class. But in the near future, comparable analogues will appear among competitors.
Thanks to a special housing with carefully selected characteristics, their noise is several times lower than that of their analogues, and the equipment available on board allows you to stay on the profile and continue shooting even at a wave height of up to 4-5m without significant loss of quality. Is our industry ready to build such a vessel and provide it with equipment? We will try to analyze this problem below.
Now let's see how much work there is for such beautiful ships in the world market. As can be seen from fig. 5, the peak of seismic exploration work on the shelf fell on 2011 - 2013, when on average 65 3D vessels "worked" at sea. In 2016 their number decreased to 40 and approximately the same number is expected in 2017.
The total number of seismic streamers on all active vessels decreased in the same proportion: from 610 to 360. In 2017, their slight increase is predicted - up to 390 (Fig. 6).
Moreover, the average load of one operating vessel decreased from 91% in 2013 to 73% in 2015-2016. (upper diagram in Fig. 7). As previous practice shows, when the load is less than 80%, the vessel operates at a loss. Attention is drawn to the fact that in 2005 - 2008. vessels were operating at 100% capacity, which is not expected now even outside of 2020.

However, the number of operating vessels and the percentage of their loading do not yet fully reflect the real economic situation of marine seismic exploration in the world market. This can be more definitely judged by how the average daily rate for a ship changes. From the graph in Fig. Figure 7 shows that in 2008, an average 10-12-lane vessel could be “sold” at a rate of 330,000 USD per day, while in 2016 – only for 134,000 USD. This value does not cover costs, but companies go for it, even zeroing out depreciation charges in order to minimize their losses. For reference: the daily rate for a 2D vessel over the same period did not fall so catastrophically: from USD 90,000 in 2007 to USD 55,000 in 2016. However, the 2D seismic segment in the world is increasingly fading away, so we do not pay due attention to this issue in this analysis. ABG analysts expect a change in the negative trend in 2017, assuming a 5% increase in daily rates, but they will not allow offshore seismic companies to make a profit. This means that the series of bankruptcies and mergers may continue into 2017.

In the current unfavorable situation, seismic exploration companies are forced to take all measures not only to reduce costs, but also to increase work productivity. From fig. Figure 8 shows that the average daily productivity has almost doubled since 2011, reaching 70 km 2 per day. Moreover, there are already examples when up to 200 km 2 of 3D shooting is performed per day, more than 1000 km 2 per week, and more than 4000 km 2 per month. From fig. 8 also shows that ships in operation can perform up to 600 thousand km 2 of 3D annually even at 60% load. However, such needs are not expected in the world in the coming years, although a few years ago these were normal average annual volumes.

In such a situation, when contract work on orders from oil and gas producers has been reduced to a historical minimum, seismic companies tend to do more multi-client (speculative) work in order to sell materials to several buyers later. So, in the minimum activity year of 2016, on average, only 10 vessels were in contract work, and 15 were in multi-client work (Fig. 9). However, this requires considerable own funds, which at the moment few people have. Pareto experts expect that after some time, with a relative stabilization of the situation, the ratio of vessels at the contacts of speculative surveys will be 20 to 15.

Since seismic exploration usually precedes drilling, a certain seismic backlog has been created, which has not yet been implemented in most companies. Therefore, seismic exploration activity has decreased in relative volumes even more than prospecting activity.

drilling.

Financial Health of Major Competing Offshore Seismic Companies

It is clear that today the financial condition of all offshore geophysical companies without exception is difficult, and some are critical. This is indirectly evidenced by their stock prices, most of which have fallen significantly more than the price of oil.
The exchange rate dynamics of shares of geophysical companies is interesting. So, in one year, from April 2015 to April 2016, the price of Brent oil fell by 31%. During the same period, the shares of the world's major marine geophysics leaders fell significantly more: PGS - by 45%, Polarcus - by 72%, CGG - by 77%, EMGS - by 89%. The well-known company Western Geco is missing from this list, as it is not listed on the market, but is a subsidiary of Shlumberger. But Iona has reduced the number of its vessels from 16 to 5. PGS is holding up better than others, despite the fact that it recently received ultra-modern 24-track seismic exploration, which we mentioned above. But she has managed to restructure payments for the latest new ships, and her fleet is by far the most numerous and modern. It remains to wait for at least a slight rise in the market.

Previously, FUGRO sold its offshore geophysical business to CGG, Dolfin went bankrupt, and Polarcus has been in default for months or is frantically looking for a way to avoid bankruptcy.
The Chinese companies BGP and COSL are included in the state holding and their shares are not quoted on stock exchanges. Since 2015 they have become the main subcontractors on the Russian shelf. If the same policy continues in the future, then Russia will never have its own marine technologies. The current attempts at import substitution under the program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in their current form will not solve this problem.
The first quarter of 2016 was admittedly the worst in the history of marine seismic exploration, as illustrated by the chart in Fig. 10.
We did not say anything to the Russian offshore geophysical companies, since, in fact, they do not have their own technologies, in most of the tenders won from Rosneft and Gazprom, they only act as intermediaries between the customer and the foreign subcontractors mentioned above, performing the actual 3D work. The exception is 2D seismic surveys, which they can and do, but again on imported equipment, some of which are under sanctions.

Dynamics of volumes of offshore seismic surveys in the world and expected demand

What are the forecasts for marine seismic exploration in the world and in Russia? If we analyze the global volume of contract sales of marine seismic services, it turns out that now the total revenue is 7 times less than it was in 2007, and is at the level of 2003-2005. And this despite the fact that the dollar then and now differs at least twice. If we extrapolate this trend beyond 2017, we do not see anything good there.
Yes… After a rather pessimistic picture of the global marine seismic market, which we have analyzed, we would like a bit of optimism. Consultants from DNB-market give it to us, however, not as much as we would like. According to these forecasts, in 2018 revenue from offshore seismic exploration will amount to $3.9bn against $3.1bn in 2016 (Fig. 11). This is also very small, but still the trend should change. Let us hope for the best.

Customers and contractors of seismic surveys on the Russian shelf

Today, Russian marine geophysical companies do not have modern 3D seismic technologies, at least in accordance with the requirements that were submitted in tender documentation in 2013-2014. two main customers: Rosneft and Gazprom. Our contractors are only able to perform 2D seismic surveys on their own, which in modern conditions is of subordinate importance. This means that 3D works that meet the tender requirements can only be performed by foreign contractors. Meanwhile, the established rules of tender procedures are arranged in such a way that "foreigners" cannot work directly with Gazprom or Rosneft. The reason is that 2-3 years ago, these two companies required a contractor to have a license to work with materials constituting state secrets. Naturally, foreign companies cannot obtain such a license in Russia. However, they don’t need it for work, because. they do not need any classified materials for conducting marine seismic surveys. In order to get out of this paradoxical situation, we had to come up with the simplest intermediary scheme (Fig. 12).

The Chinese companies BGP and COSL are part of the state holding and do not list their shares on stock exchanges. Since 2015, they have become the main subcontractors on the Russian shelf. If the same policy continues in our country, then Russia will not have its own marine technologies.

The top row of this figure indicates the main offshore seismic customers, including Gazprom and Rosneft or their subsidiaries and joint ventures with foreign partners. The announced tenders involve Russian contractors (second line in Fig. 12), which have such a license. They enter into a subcontract with one of the foreign companies (the last line in Fig. 12), and then they successfully complete the required amount of work and transfer the results to the Russian intermediary, who reports to the main customer. In 2015 there were some changes in this scheme. After the imposition of sanctions, some joint companies of Rosneft with ExxonMobil, Statoil, ENI disappeared from the number of customers for a while. There have been changes in contractors. Thus, the two largest Russian marine geophysical companies DMNG and SMNG since February 2015 joined the state holding "Rosgeologiya" (in Fig. 12 it is ROSGEO) and in the future will not be able to compete with each other for such intermediary contracts. Most of the foreign subcontracting companies from the bottom line in Fig. 12 to a large extent will not be able to work in the previous mode due to the imposed sanctions.

China enters the seismic market

An additional problem is foreign exchange risk, which could result in foreign subcontractors making no profit or even losing money, as happened recently with one of them. After all, the initial contracts of Gazprom and Rosneft with Russian contractors are concluded in rubles, calculations for the amount of work performed are made in rare cases a year after the completion of the entire project. What will be the course for this period, no one can predict. Moreover, foreign companies bear the costs of performing work, mainly in dollars or euros. As a result of such rapid changes in the Russian market, the place of foreign subcontractors was quickly taken by Chinese companies BGP, COSL and others. However, they still lag behind PGS, CGG and Western Geco in terms of quality and technology. Nevertheless, it is already clear that the Chinese will develop their geophysical industry at a very fast pace, unlike Russia.

In a situation where contract work on orders from oil and gas producers has been reduced to a historic low, seismic companies are striving to perform more multi-client (speculative) work in order to sell materials to several buyers later.

Be that as it may, the current intermediary scheme, imposed by internal regulations, leads to an increase in the cost of work. It makes it possible for Russian geophysicists to earn some money on intermediary operations, but does not contribute to the development of domestic geophysics, which fell into decline in the 1990s. and has not yet recovered from the crisis, and vice versa - continuing the path to degradation. Here, completely different support measures are needed, rather than artificially forcing foreign companies into intermediary schemes. To whom this additional link can potentially contribute to the development of corruption schemes, the fight against which has been declared by the state at the highest level.
In 2015, 11,800 km 2 of 3D offshore seismic surveys were completed, compared to about 21,000 km 2 previously planned. Their distribution by sea and by customer companies is shown in fig. 13.
The main scope of 2D work is 25,180 linear meters. km - was completed in 2015 on orders from Rosneft. As for PJSC Gazprom, this subsoil user has not ordered them for the last 3 years, focusing only on 3D works specified in the licenses, most of which have also been completed.
It is rather difficult to talk about the needs for offshore seismic surveys on the Russian shelf in the coming years. On fig. Figure 14 shows approximate expectations for 2016 in terms of 3D volumes, but they were not fully confirmed due to the transfer of part of the work to the next season, as well as due to restrictions in the budgets of companies due to the constant optimization of their investment programs. Plans, as they say, are “made up on the go”, tenders are announced with a great delay, and the summing up of their results is constantly delayed.
It should not be forgotten that PJSC Gazprom is not so far from fulfilling its license obligations for seismic exploration, PJSC Rosneft Oil Company has completed a significant part of the priority 3D volumes and, probably, will not be in a hurry in the current market situation with the total volumes. PJSC Lukoil rarely orders 3D volumes of more than 400 km 2 per year, but they have been completed in most of their offshore areas. These factors significantly dampen expectations for future growth in 3D volumes. Rather, on the contrary.
According to the forecasts of our Norwegian neighbors, the volume of offshore seismic surveys on the Russian shelf in 2017 will be 15,500 km 2 3D (Fig. 15), however, in our opinion, it will be at least half as much.

Crises don't last forever...

First quarter 2016 admittedly the worst in marine seismic history

It is clear that in the current crisis conditions, some plans will have to be adjusted. But crises do not last forever, so sooner or later another question will be on the agenda: what is the technological readiness of Russian and foreign companies to fulfill their license obligations on the shelf in the new conditions and what needs to be done to improve it?
Although in the 80s. In the 20th century, in the Soviet Union, almost all research on the shelf was carried out using domestic equipment, which, in terms of its characteristics at that time, was quite consistent with the world level. Moreover, the implementation of a large-scale program for the development of the Arctic at that time led someone to the fact that by the end of the eighties in the USSR there appeared such a fleet of domestic drilling vessels (Shashin, Muravlenko, several jack-up drilling units, etc.), which would be able to the current extensive offshore exploration program. The seismic survey vessels available at that time, equipped with domestic sources and receivers, not only coped with the 2D seismic survey program, but even to a certain extent were underloaded with physical volumes. At the end of the season, to fulfill the plan for running kilometers, we had to look for additional facilities. There was no 3D seismic exploration in water areas at that time, but on land such work has already been gradually developed since the 1970s. in the simplest modifications. In the 1990s, 3D work in the world began to be episodically carried out on the shelf, but in Russia the first “pseudo-3D” work with two streamers was carried out at the Prirazlomnoye field, except for work at the small Shtormovoye field in Chernoy. sea, made in the 80s. one oblique on a very dense system of 2D profiles. But both of these examples are not, in fact, true 3D seismic surveys in the modern sense.

The 3D seismic surveys carried out today on the Russian shelf in terms of technological parameters correspond to the level that was achieved in the world more than 15 years ago.

What threaten sanctions, first of all, seismic exploration? For 2D seismic exploration by satellite on-board gravimagnetic measurements, in principle, we have more than a dozen of our own vessels in the companies MAGE, SMNG, DMNG (the last two are now part of Rosgeologiya) and others. But all these vessels are equipped with signal excitation sources and receiving devices (seismic streamers) produced abroad. Many vessels are approaching or exceeding 30 years of age. There are only three modern seismic vessels in Russian companies, and the number of seismic streamers on them is from 4 to 8, while in most tenders even Russian customers already require at least 12 streamers. The equipment available on board these vessels does not allow anyone to carry out the so-called. broadband 3D seismic survey (“broadband” seismic), while abroad this requirement is already becoming standard.

Russian offshore geophysical companies do not have their own technologies, and in most tenders won from Rosneft and Gazprom, they act only as intermediaries between the customer and foreign subcontractors who perform 3D work.

Another complicating point is that 3D seismic exploration by specialized vessels cannot be carried out in ice conditions, since 300-400 tons of expensive outboard equipment in the form of 12-16 seismic streamers can simply be cut off by ice. Technologies for protecting seismic streamers from ice (and only for 2D work, not for 3D) are available from the American company ION, which, under sanctions, left the Russian market. I must say that the origins of this technology were Russian: back in the early 90s. we carried out such work in an experimental mode under the guidance of A.A. Gagelgan. However, later all this was lost. Therefore, in the current state of affairs in the eastern Arctic, only production 2D seismic surveys are possible during a short ice-free period, which in these places lasts no more than a month and a half.

One of the recent positive moments in this regard is the receipt of a patent by the Russian company MAGE for a seismic streamer burying device for 2D work in moderate ice conditions.

"For" and "against" the construction of domestic vessels for seismic exploration

What are Russian offshore geophysical companies equipped with today? For example, MAGE, which over the past three years has won most of the tenders of Rosneft and Gazprom for offshore seismic exploration. As a student in 1976, I had an internship on the MAGE flagship Professor Kurentsov, which, almost 30 years later, remains one of the main production units of this company. The company has two more similar vessels: "Dmitry Nalivkin" and "Nikolai Trubyatchinsky". There are several more vessels comparable in terms of characteristics to other Russian companies: DMNG, SMNG, partly from Sevmorgeo and Yuzhmorgeologia, in total about a dozen. Such vessels are absolutely not suitable for 3D seismic. They are not able, as, for example, modern special PGS ships, to tow behind them up to 24 lines with signal transmitters and receivers, each 12 km long (Fig. 4). Such vessels have already set several world performance records, for example, over 1000 km 2 3D seismic surveys per week. Alas, all the Russian ships mentioned above can tow only one single streamer, i.e. work on 2D technology. The performance of works by MAGE and other Russian contractors under the won 3D tenders was provided mainly by foreign contractors in accordance with the intermediary scheme shown in fig. 12. The most interesting thing is that most of the customer's employees do not even know about this, believing that the Russians themselves can do everything. It would be nice if this was true, but things are much worse.
Russia generally does not have modern specialized vessels for 3D seismic surveys. True, there are 3 vessels that can tow from 4 to 8 streamers up to 6 km long, and one of them was taken on a bareboat charter (lease without a crew) from the foreign company Polarcus 5 years ago and has not yet been redeemed. Moreover, these three vessels often remain “out of the game” in the Russian market, since the tender requirements of Rosneft and Gazprom until 2015 provided for the presence of 10 to 16 streamers up to 7.2 km long. Such a volume of winches, compressors and related equipment cannot simply be taken and placed on any typical vessel of a suitable size.
In addition to special equipment and a special shape of the hull with a wide stern, these vessels must have a low level of acoustic noise when moving so as not to interfere with the operation of ultra-sensitive equipment. And have stability when rolling, in order to be able to work with hundreds of tons of outboard equipment in sea waves up to 4 points. Sovcomflot had plans to start building such vessels abroad, but things have not yet gone further than plans, and this company currently operates the very only 6-8-boat Vyacheslav Tikhonov in Russia on a bareboat charter (freight no crew). At the beginning of 2017, Sovcomflot-Geo took on a bareboat charter a second, more modern 16-lane vessel from Polarcus (UAE), which is experiencing serious financial difficulties. But some enthusiasts are still wondering: “But what if you still find money somewhere in the current financial crisis and build several of these ships? After all, the expanses of the Arctic shelf and the Far East are limitless, and there will be enough work for decades.” It would seem that this is so. But there are at least five objections to this under the current specific conditions.

The current intermediary scheme, imposed by internal regulations, leads to an increase in the cost of work. It makes it possible for Russian geophysicists to earn some money on intermediary operations, but does not contribute to the development of domestic geophysics, which fell into decline in the 1990s. and since then has not recovered from the crisis, but on the contrary - continuing the path to degradation.

Firstly, the design and construction of ships will take many years, and it is necessary to work now. Secondly, in order not to miss the time for construction, you can buy ready-made modern seismic vessels in the West, where now, during the crisis, more than half of them, even relatively new ones, are out of work and can be sold at half price and on installments. Thirdly, as practice shows, when building current domestic specialized ships, even at Russian shipyards, most of the intelligent systems are purchased abroad, including power plants such as Rolls-Royce, etc., which gives income to non-domestic manufacturers. From the Russian there, there are mainly hulls and other metal-intensive structures, and this is not the largest component of the cost of intelligent vessels. The total cost of building an analogue vessel with worse characteristics will be many times higher. Fourthly, even with the seemingly limitless amount of work, it will be very problematic to actually load these vessels with permanent work due to the short Arctic summer. Today it is possible to carry out 3D seismic exploration up to 4 months a year in the non-freezing Barents Sea and in some areas of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. In the Kara Sea, this period is limited to two months, in the seas of the eastern In the Arctic, some years with a strong ice cover (for example, 2014) they will not be able to be done at all. Only industrial 2D seismic surveys are possible during a short ice-free period, which in these places lasts no more than a month and a half. This means that for a significant part of the year our own ships will be out of work in Russia, and therefore, in order not to incur astronomical losses in their maintenance, it is necessary to find work for them far abroad, where there is no winter at this time. But there it will be difficult to compete with foreign contractors who have divided the market, because the daily maintenance rate for reinforced ice-class vessels is many times higher than for a conventional seismic vessel.
If you dump to win at the price, then there is no way to get away from current losses. And, fifthly, no one needs the ship itself without the appropriate high-tech equipment. And here, unexpected problems arose in 2014 due to Western sanctions that apply to most of this equipment. That is why now the question arose about the production of our own similar products. In this regard, as positive news for domestic marine geophysics, it should be noted the start of work on the R&D projects “Gel-filled spit”, “Selection”, “Location”, “Seismotomography”, “Seismocos” and other related R&D projects funded by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Unfortunately, the projected results by the completion date will not fully correspond to the achieved world level of development of marine technologies, especially in terms of the implementation of broadband seismic (broadband seismic). At the same time, this is an indisputable step forward compared to the previous decades of “forgetfulness” in Russian geophysics.

4D seismic exploration - technology for monitoring offshore oil and gas production

Today, seismic monitoring of deposits during their operation (4D) is increasingly used in the world. For example, by 2009 more than 50 offshore fields had been surveyed with 4D seismic, by 2016 this number had almost doubled. The leader in terms of the number of fields where such work has been carried out seems to be British Petroleum.
There are three options for the technology of conducting 4D seismic surveys in offshore fields: 1) sequential execution of conventional 3D surveys with a floating streamer at large time intervals; 2) performing regular surveys with bottom cables; 3) installation of a 4C bottom fiber optic system for the entire period of field development.
Unfortunately, in Russia such studies are known so far only at the Astokhskoye field on the Sakhalin shelf (performed by PGS on the order of Sakhalin Energy in the first version of three). According to the results of periodically conducted 3D seismic survey, they try to follow the movement of the water-oil contact and the degree of watering and depletion of various parts of the deposit. In particular, in fig. 16, after subtracting the results of two successive 3D surveys, the waterflooding zone is clearly visible, which is then mapped in space and serves as the basis for correcting the hydrodynamic model of the reservoir being developed.

Our contractors are only able to perform 2D seismic surveys on their own, which in modern conditions is of subordinate importance. This means that 3D works that meet the tender requirements can only be performed by foreign contractors.

However, in offshore conditions it is often problematic to exactly repeat a seismic survey with the same excitation and reception conditions. This makes it difficult to correctly compare the data and highlight very weak effects associated with the development of the deposit against the background of noise. In addition, the periodic repetition of full-fledged 3D shooting is quite an expensive undertaking.
The most advanced today are special monitoring systems based on fiber optic solutions. 4-component sensors (X,Y,Z - geophones and H - hydrophone) are placed on the bottom and can remain there for the entire period of field operation (Fig. 17). The absence of any electrical connections in the subsea part makes the system absolutely reliable and durable, the unstable recording conditions allow capturing weak signals associated with changes in the reservoir during operation. The collection of information can be carried out on the operational platform. The frequency of shooting in this case is any, because it requires only a small source vessel at low cost. There is a positive experience of using these systems, in particular, the PGS Optoseis system, in one of the deep-water fields of the Brazilian shelf at a water depth of 1700 m.Conventional seismic sensors are unsuitable in such conditions.
A more detailed analysis of 4D seismic systems is given in. There are fields in Russia where it is advisable to install a permanent seismic observation system: for example, Prirazlomnoye, im. Korchagin, them. Filanovsky, Kirinskoye, etc. Permanent 4D monitoring systems give, as an additional bonus, the opportunity to “listen” to the field by registering the so-called. "seismic emission", which is impossible with conventional towed systems.
In conclusion, we note that, unfortunately, none of the listed technologies is beyond the power of Russian service companies, and the main Russian customers represented by Gazprom and Rosneft do not provide for the use of the latest technologies and observation systems in the tender conditions, relying on the minimum cost of work . Taking into account the fact that prospecting, exploration, and even more so production drilling in most offshore areas will be delayed under the new conditions of sanctions and low oil prices, it should be understood that at the moment of active development, all this work will have to be carried out again, since during this time technology will go far ahead. Therefore, the saying "The miser pays twice" is fully applicable to the situation on the Russian shelf.

The future is in new technologies

The 3D seismic surveys carried out today on the Russian shelf in terms of technological parameters correspond to the level that was achieved in the world more than 15 years ago.
The specificity of the Russian shelf, especially the Arctic one, is that in many places between the low-lying tundra coast and a full-fledged navigable water area, a multi-kilometer transit zone extends with sea depths from zero to several meters. It is clear that here it is impossible to carry out traditional seismic exploration with multi-kilometer towed streamers. Thus, the need to develop modern domestic equipment for bottom seismic surveys with recording 4-component elements is on the agenda. The problems of computer software for processing multicomponent marine seismic data, patent clearance and certification of domestic equipment being created, etc., remain unresolved.
And these are important tasks for new R&D.

Literature

1. Ampilov Yu.P. Seismic exploration on the Russian shelf // Offshore. 2015. No. 2 (8). pp. 26 – 35.
2. Ampilov Yu.P. Baturin D.G. The latest technologies for 4D seismic monitoring in the development of offshore oil and gas fields // Technologies of seismic exploration. 2013. No. 2. pp. 31 – 36.
3. Ampilov Yu.P. New challenges for the Russian oil and gas industry in the context of sanctions and low oil prices // Mineral Resources of Russia. Economics and Management. 2017. No. 2.

1. Ampilov J.P. Seismic exploration on the Russian shelf // Offshore. 2015. No. 2 (8). pp. 26 - 35.
2. Ampilov J.P. Baturin D.G. Latest technology 4D seismic monitoring and development of offshore oil and gas fields // Seismic technology. 2013. No. 2.Pp. 31-36.
3. Ampilov J.P. New challenges for the Russian oil industry in terms of sanctions and low oil prices // Mineral resources of Russia. economy and management. 2017. No. 2.

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