OMV starts largest ever seismic campaign in Austria
OMV News, January 29, 2018 - 10:30 am (CET)
What is seismic reflection? Click for video.
OMV, the international, integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Vienna, has started the largest Austrian seismic campaign in the company’s history. The requisite indicators for a discovery and the subsequent testing for economic feasibility should ensure the sustainable security of supply of natural gas well into the future.
The latest seismic survey will explore the geological subsurface at depths of 4,000 to 6,000 meters and will provide information on the layers of the earth that potentially contain gas. In the winter months of 2018 a total of around 600 square kilometers will be measured on an area stretching from the north-east of Vienna via the majority of the Marchfeld through to north-east of Schönkirchen.
Following the successful preparatory work, the actual survey has already started with up to four fleets, each with three impulse generator vehicles. These special vehicles generate impulses that are reflected by the geological layers in the subsurface and recorded by geophones.
Once the seismic survey is complete, the data will be processed and a three-dimensional image of the subsurface produced. This image will be evaluated and supports the OMV geologists to discover possible accumulations of natural gas.
At present OMV produces around 10% of Austria’s natural gas consumption. Annually Austria requires around 8 bn cubic meters of natural gas for manufacturing, power stations, heating plants, traffic, transport and services.
Background information:
OMV Austria Exploration & Production GmbH
OMV, the integrated, international oil and gas company, produced around 311,000 boe (barrels of oil equivalent) per day globally in 2016. E&P activities in Austria play a significant role in OMV’s worldwide production of crude oil and natural gas. In Austria OMV produces over 28,000 boe/d from an area exceeding 5,000 km² and thereby meets around 10% of domestic demand for oil and gas.
OMV Aktiengesellschaft
OMV is producing and marketing oil & gas, innovative energy and high-end petrochemical solutions – in a responsible way. With Group sales of EUR 19 bn and a workforce of around 22,500 employees in 2016, OMV Aktiengesellschaft is one of Austria’s largest listed industrial companies. In Upstream, OMV has a strong base in Romania and Austria and a balanced international portfolio. 2016 daily production stood at approximately 311,000 boe/d. In Downstream, OMV has an annual refining capacity of 17.8 mn tonnes and more than 2,000 filling stations in ten countries as of June 2017. OMV operates a gas pipeline network in Austria and gas storage facilities in Austria and Germany. In 2016, gas sales volumes amounted to 109 TWh.