The Government of Guyana is advancing a large-scale offshore 3D multi-client seismic acquisition, a move aimed at reducing exploration risk across acreage south of the Stabroek Block and strengthening the country’s upstream petroleum framework.
According to a March 9 notice from the Ministry of Natural Resources, the government is progressing the survey with support from Viridien following an international procurement process that began on September 6, 2024. The survey will span about 25,000 square kilometers offshore Guyana, covering all eleven blocks from the 2022 Licensing Round that extend south of the Stabroek Block toward the Guyana–Suriname border.
“This partnership represents a major step in strengthening Guyana’s offshore petroleum framework and advancing the modernization of the energy sector,” the Ministry said.
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Viridien and the Guyana government have worked together since 2010 on seismic data acquisition, processing, and management for the country’s offshore basin. The agreement allows the survey to proceed without direct public spending through a pre-funded model.
The ministry said, “The new agreement enables large-scale seismic acquisition without direct public expenditure.” “This is done through pre-funding, whereby energy companies provide early capital for geophysical surveys in exchange for exclusive early access to data.”
Officials said the seismic program will generate detailed images of subsurface geology to help identify hydrocarbon deposits and guide drilling strategies. Authorities also confirmed that ownership of the seismic data will remain with the State.
“All data acquired will remain the sole property of the Government of Guyana, preserving our sovereign ownership of national petroleum data,” the ministry said. “The data can, however, be licensed to third parties for a fee.”
The program is intended to reduce exploration risk across the Guyana Basin and support future licensing opportunities.
“Furthermore, this data would bolster the basin’s marketability in future bid rounds and firmly position Guyana competitively within the regional exploration market,” the ministry added.
The agreement also requires partners to maximize local content and provide technical training to regulatory agencies.
Survey acquisition will begin once pre-funding commitments are secured. The data collection phase is expected to last about one year, followed by processing and interpretation.
The collected data will help establish Guyana’s first Petroleum Data Repository.
Guyana, the world’s largest per capita oil producer, focused its first licensing round on balancing investor interest with tighter fiscal and other terms. However, the round did not benefit from seismic. The government has said it wants to proceed with a second round, but only after offering seismic data to prospective bidders.
All current production comes from the Stabroek Block, operated by ExxonMobil, along with Hess and CNOOC as co-venturers.
