ION Geophysical Corporation has commenced reprocessing approximately 5,000 km of existing two-dimensional (2D) Crosta Profonda (CROP) data in a geologically complex region offshore Italy extending from west of Sardinia through the Sicilian Channel and into southern Italian waters. The project is being conducted in collaboration with Italy’s Institute of Marine Science (ISMAR), a research body which forms part of the country’s National Research Council (CNR) that manages the CROP database.
This reprocessing project will provide offshore oil and gas licensees with improved regional data that contributes to better overall understanding of the geology of the western and central Mediterranean, a complex region that merits use of the latest processing and imaging techniques to fully evaluate its petroleum potential. ION is concurrently acquiring and processing seismic data in regions adjacent to the CROP database for its MediterraneanSPAN™ program. This includes activity related to LibyaSPAN™, a project that commenced late 2014.
“These reprocessing surveys deliver higher quality exploration data, and are essential in helping to determine prospectivity in complex regions. They also enable greater understanding of basin geology when tied to conjugate margins in contiguous datasets,” Joe Gagliardi, Senior Vice President of ION’s GeoVentures group, commented.
Originally acquired and processed in the 1990s, the CROP dataset encompasses nearly 10,000 km of 2D seismic lines in what was a promising but underleveraged basin. It formed the foundation of a successful interpretative strategy for deep crustal seismic data reprocessing that has contributed to an increase in successful E&P activity. Reprocessing is expected to be completed by Q1 2016.
