The geophysical company Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS) proposes to acquire multi-client three-dimensional (MC3D) marine seismic surveys (MSS) within the Outer Exmouth MC3D MSS polygon in the North-west Marine Region (NWMR) offshore from Western Australia (WA).
The Outer Exmouth MC3D MSS polygon lies entirely in Commonwealth waters within the North -west Marine Region (NWMR) and encompases an area of ~170,000 km². At the closest point, the southeast corner of the polygon is located ~86 km from the mainland coastline at North West Cape. Barrow Island is located ~109 km to the east of the polygon and Exmouth Gulf is located ~100 km to the southeast. The southern boundary of the polygon is located ~108 km northwest of Point Cloates.
Water depths within the Outer Exmouth MC3D MSS polygon range from ~840 m to ~4,900 m, with the deepest water depths located on the northwest boundary of the polygon.
During the proposed activities, the survey vessel(s) will traverse a series of pre-determined sail lines within the Outer Exmouth MC3D MSS polygon at a speed of 4.5 knots. As the vessels travel along the survey lines a series of noise pulses (every 8-10 seconds) will be directed down through the water column and seabed. The seismic array will comprise of 10 to 14 solid streamers, with a length of 7,100 m. Streamer spacing will be 100 m, and line spacing will be between 500 and 700 m. The source (airgun array) tow depth will be 5-9 m and the streamer tow depth will be 15m. The operating pressure for the airgun array will be 2,000 psi.
The commencement date of surveys within the Outer Exmouth MC3D MSS polygon is yet to be finalised but as the EP is expected to extend for a period of five years.
Note: This information has been extracted from the EP Summary. Please refer to the attached EP Summary for more information.