CGG announced today that it has extended its data library of shale acreage in the United States by completing a vast three-year multi-client 3D land seismic program targeting the Marcellus Shale Fairway. The Marcellus Shale is considered to be a leading shale play for future natural gas exploration and production in the United States. 

CGG conducted the 1,566-square-mile program in six phases in Lycoming, Tioga, Clinton, Centre and Clearfield Counties in Central Pennsylvania. It is believed to be the largest combined onshore seismic survey ever acquired in the continental United States.As the terrain in Central Pennsylvania gradually became more rugged and mountainous, CGG switched from deploying the Sercel 428XL cable acquisition system to using the Sercel UNITE® wireless acquisition system to acquire the complex seismic program. By the end of 2014 all six phases will be merged together to offer a seamless data set processed with state-of-the-art interpolation and migration techniques over the entire program. Currently this data set is available over the Lycoming II and Brookside portions of the survey. 

Jean-Georges Malcor, CEO, CGG, said: “Our three-year Marcellus Fairway survey has been the cornerstone of our strategy to develop a robust multi-client data library of shale acreage in North America. Representing over 118,000 shots and millions of receiver locations, we have completed one of the most difficult and challenging programs in the history of US onshore seismic. We are confident that the merged survey will produce the best image and reservoir attributes possible of the Marcellus Shale to help our clients decide which leaseholds to develop first and how to optimize their drilling and completion programs to avoid hazards and maximize production.”