ANCAP closed on December 13, 2010 an international tender for the acquisition of between 5.600 and 7.000 kilometers of 2D seismic data covering the Punta del Este and Pelotas basins as well as gravimetry and magnetometry data. Petroleum Geo-Services (Norway), CGG Veritas (France), GXT Ion (USA), Reflect Geophysical (Singapore), Spectrum Geo Limited (UK) y SeaBird Exploration (Norway) presented proposals for the ANCAP tender.

The raw data from the survey as well as the processing (covered by an international tender to be done during the first half of 2011) and the interpretation of this new seismic data by the ANCAP technical staff is expected to be on sale for the interested parties over the coming months. The geophysical information obtained will be the support of the evaluation by those companies interested in participating in the Uruguay Round II for Exploration & Exploitation. The information will be sold at very accessible prices, and could be validated by ANCAP as partial work unit for the first Exploration period. The Uruguay Round II will be launched during the second half of 2011.

Exploration for hydrocarbons involves the evaluation of a variety and a big amount of information. Seismic methods are used to create images of the offshore platform as a prior step to successfully select well locations. In addition the seismic tool provides a cost effective alternative to drilling as a mean to determine probable hydrocarbon prospects. Reflection seismic is a method that allows to image changes in the marine geology by inducing an acoustic wave and listening for the echoes from deeper stratigraphic boundaries.

2D seismic data is recorded using very long straight lines (between 8 and 12 km) of receivers at a controlled depth under the surface of the sea. Acoustic energy is usually provided by compressed air guns. The sound spreads out through the marine platform as a spherical wave front. Interfaces between different types of rocks will both reflect and transmit this wave front. The reflected signals return to the lines where they are collected by sensitive microphones known as hydrophones.

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