(WO) – Egypt plans to start the first phase of an ocean bottom node (OBN) seismic survey covering about 18,000 sq km of its Eastern Mediterranean waters within the next two weeks, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Karim Badawi said on Oct. 18. The aim is to improve natural gas exploration prospects.
The state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Co. (EGAS) will carry out the project with a consortium of SLB and Viridien. Badawi said the survey will provide more accurate data on subsea geological structures and help identify the areas with the most potential for gas exploration. He said the goal is to attract new investment from international companies and speed up exploration decisions.
This survey is the first phase of a wider seismic program that will cover up to 95,000 sq km of Egypt’s Eastern Mediterranean waters. The program is meant to build a larger database for assessing the region’s undiscovered hydrocarbon resources.
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