Multi-client projects provide the opportunity to address exploration risk through the completion of work under a cost-sharing agreement.
In times of restricted budget these projects allow more to be done for less and provides an ability to access specific expertise that would be costly for a company to maintain in a fulltime role.
Likewise, when staff shortages impede the completion of work in a timely manner multiclient work can help to meet the shortfall. For small companies, these projects can provide access to a high standard of technical resources at much lower cost and with a shorter cycle time.
Multi-client seismic projects, both new acquisitions as well as reprocessing projects are now commonplace and for many reasons can be preferable to work undertaken by an operator. Even in large companies the outsourcing of key technical work removes the need for an in-house team and instead a single specialist can monitor rather than conduct the required work.
The uptake of multi-client work in the geological realm is less common, partly due to limitations in many jurisdictions to access suitable samples for new analysis and partly due to the challenge a contractor faces in placing results in geological context. Level of spend is typically also lower with a reluctance to invest to the same level as a seismic project.
Ascendience is looking to challenge this relative paucity of geological multiclient data by conducting new acquisition programs for relevant geological data but also through geological reprocessing of heritage data to provide enhanced interpretation solutions.
We welcome interest from operating and service companies to propose or collaborate on studies that would advance the understanding of the petroleum systems in the areas they operate and will also be issuing expressions of interest for a range of multi-client projects that draw on areas where Ascendience holds significant expertise.