Seismic activity detected in northern Australian waters

NORWAY’s Shearwater Geoservices AS has been awarded a 3D seismic acquisition contract by Eni Timor 22-23 BV, a subsidiary of Italian energy company Eni, in the Timor Sea.

The project comprises about 1,500 square kilometres and is scheduled to start late in the first quarter of 2026.

The two-month survey will be conducted by Shearwater’shigh-capacity vessel SW Bly, leveraging the company’s advanced acquisition capabilities and processing software to fast-track delivery of high-quality decision ready data directly from the vessel to the client, the company says.

“This award strengthens Shearwater’s engagement with Eniand demonstrates their confidence in our efficient execution platform, advanced seismic technology and data quality,” said Shearwater CEO Irene Waage Basili.

“By delivering Decision Ready Data to Eni shortly after the data acquisition Shearwater will support timely and well-informed development decisions.”

Separately TGS, another Norwegian energy data andintelligence specialist, has launched of the Bonaparte Basin PSDM [Pre-StackDepth Migration] Reprocessing Project, a new multi-client initiative designed to enhance subsurface imaging and geological understanding in the Bonaparte Basin, which straddles the waters of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

In a flurry of acronyms and jargon TGS said the project includes the reprocessing of the Cygnus 3D, Cartier 3D, Grand Ashmore 2D and Vulcan 2D data sets.

The Cygnus and Cartier 3D surveys will undergo acomprehensive (PSDM) workflow, incorporating Full Waveform Inversion (FWI) for Velocity Model Building (VMB).

This will result in a seamlessly matched and merged contiguous 3D volume covering 8,735 square kilometres.

“Launching the Bonaparte Basin PSDM Reprocessing Project demonstrates TGS’ continued focus on delivering advanced imaging solutions that help our clients better understand complex geology,” said David Hajovsky, EVP, Multi-Client at TGS.

“By applying the latest seismic reprocessing technologies, we are providing higher-quality data that supports more informed exploration decisions across offshore Australia.”

The Grand Ashmore and Vulcan 2D data sets will be reprocessed using advanced demultiple techniques and multi-iteration tomographic model building.

The workflow will deliver a high-quality tilted transverse isotropy pre-stack depth migrated volume and a matched and merged 2Ddata set totalling 10,768 line kilometers.

The Bonaparte Basin is a geologically diverse region comprising multiple sub-basins and key exploration targets, including Jurassic Plover and Montara sandstones, Triassic Challis sandstones, Permian carbonates and Cretaceous submarine fans.

The reprocessing project, already underway, is expected to significantly improve imaging of deeper plays and support regional geological interpretation for future acreage evaluation and exploration activity.