The company Reflect Geophysical Pte Ltd under an exclusive contract with ANCAP has already completed more than 80% of the survey for the acquisition of geophysical data in the Uruguayan offshore. Quality control, operations and environmental supervision onboard of the seismic vessel R/V Reflect Aries is being performed by ANCAP personnel through all the survey.

ANCAP will offer field and pre-processed data on a sound and flexible licensing model to oil companies interested in evaluating the hydrocarbon potential and exploration opportunities offshore Uruguay, with regards to the Uruguay Round II in which ANCAP will offer offshore areas for exploration-exploitation of hydrocarbons.

The survey comprise a basic program of 49 lines for a total of 5,629 km, in a wide area of the Uruguayan Exclusive Economic Zone; from shallow waters (20 meters depth) 50 km coast away, up to ultra-deep waters (2,500 meters depth) located near to the borderline of the Zone. ANCAP estimates that the survey will be completed on the second half of May 2011.

The aim of the survey is to bring a regional picture of the evolution and exploratory potential of the Uruguayan offshore basins, as well as to delineate the multiple structural, stratigraphic and combined prospects and leads already identified.

This survey adds information to the amount of data already available by ANCAP, such as the commercialized by CGG Veritas for about 12.000 Km of 2D seismic data (acquired during 2002, 2007 and 2008). ANCAP has signed also an agreement with the company ION/GXT for the acquisition, processing and interpretation of seismic data of the Uruguayan offshore, the so-called UruguaySPAN (with a minimum program of 1,800 km of regional seismic data that will link the Uruguayan basins with the neighboring basins of Brazil and Argentina).

Tags: ANCAP