JOGMEC oil search continues in Seychelles waters, as coring survey starts next week

Partial view of Russian owned ‘Akademik Fersman’, berthed at Zone 14, Seychelles' Ile Du Port on April 14 ready to undertake 2D seismic survey of some 3000 line km of the Seychelles' EEZ. The survey is expected to end Monday May 19 before MV Jupiter starts acquiring geochemical data (Seychelles News Agency) 

(Seychelles News Agency) - PetroSeychelles has announced today that Japan’s Oil Gas Minerals Exploration Company, JOGMEC will be acquiring geochemical data in the Seychelles exclusive economic zone from May 21 to June 5, 2014. 

According a PetroSeychelles statement, JOGMEC is subcontracting a marine geoscience survey company, Mg3 to carry out the coring survey with the vessel MV Jupiter, where samples of rock will be cut out from geological formations in the sea bed, to see if they have geological properties which may indicate an oil reservoir.

"This will involve the collection of about 85 samples through shallow cores on the sea floor.  These samples will then be seal packed and forwarded to their lab for geochemical analysis. The aim is to identify if there are hydrocarbon seepages in the area that might give an indication of a working petroleum system," said PetroSeychelles in a statement this afternoon.

PetroSeychelles says the data from this survey together with the data from an ongoing seismic survey will 'provide a good indication of the petroleum prospectivity of the area.'

JOGMEC had also contracted a Russian service company DMNG, to undertake a 2D seismic survey of some 3000 line km of the Seychelles exclusive economic zone as part of a joint study together with PetroSeychelles, which is a state owned company responsible for regulating the hydrocarbon sector of the Indian Ocean archipelago.

Russian seismic vessel ‘Akademik Fersman’ started operation on April 15.

PetroSeychelles confirmed in its statement that the seismic study is expected to end May 19, two days before MV Jupiter starts to acquire geochemical data in the same area.

“We will ensure that mariners are notified of the presence of MV Jupiter, but this latest study will not affect any of their activities,” Patrick Samson of PetroSeychelles told SNA.

The agreement for the joint venture between JOGMEC and PetroSeychelles was signed in October 2013.

Oil exploration activities in the waters of the Indian Ocean archipelago are set to increase in the coming months as Australian oil and gas exploration company WHL Energy Ltd recently received the Seychelles government approval to partner with FTSE- listed Ophir Energy Plc for exploration activities.

Last month WHL Energy indicated that with the joint venture formalized they are looking to speed up the 3D seismic survey of a designated 1500 km² of the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone.

“The winning 3D seismic contract bidder for an initial seismic survey under the new joint venture is expected to be named within the next few weeks, potentially allowing the acquisition programme to commence as early as the end of May or the beginning of June to take advantage of the current availability of a number of state-of-the-art seismic vessels in the East African region – which would also significantly reduce vessel mobilization costs,” said WHL in a press statement on April 16.