Both Fugro vessels are using hull-mounted multibeam echosounders (12 kHz on Fugro Gauss and 30 kHz on Fugro Brasilis) and sub-bottom profiler systems to map an area of approximately 625,000 square kilometres in the deep waters of Mexico. The data acquired will assist in identifying sites where deep hydrocarbon-rich fluids are escaping to the seafloor and will be used to target hundreds of sites for coring and geochemical analysis.

“Fugro has a dedicated centre of excellence in Houston for seep-hunting,” explained Jim Gharib, Fugro’s Global Product Line Manager for Seep Studies. “The team includes several of the world’s leading geoscience experts responsible for bringing seep-hunting to the offshore industry. Our recent successes include nine seep data collection and geochemical analysis projects in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and Southeast Asia.”

The survey is being conducted for TGS as part of its industry-funded, multiclient “Gigante Survey” which also includes a regional 2D seismic survey of approximately 186,000 kilometres, gravity and magnetic data and a regional seismic structural interpretation. TGS aims for this project to be the most comprehensive and modern offshore Mexico dataset which ties into its existing U.S. Gulf of Mexico regional 2D grid. The survey is designed to assist exploration and production companies in their evaluation of prospectivity offshore Mexico during forthcoming licence rounds. Interest in this area is high following the denationalisation of Mexico’s oil and gas market after seven decades of government control.