HyperDynamics Corp. Announces Start of Exclusive Seismic Exploration Off Guinea Coast
Part of Forecasted $7 Billion West Africa Subsea Drilling Development Through 2006
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 10, 2002--HyperDynamics Corporation, www.hypd.com (OTCBB:HYPD - news), ``enabling tomorrow, today...'' through its wholly owned subsidiary, SCS Corporation, announced that it has commenced exclusive seismic operations to explore for oil and gas offshore of the Republic of Guinea, West Africa with its partner, USOil.
Offshore Seismic Surveys, Inc. (OSS) seismic vessel ``MV Gulf Supplier'' was dispatched to Guinea, earlier this month, and has begun an initial seismic survey of over 1,000 KM, applying the latest 480 channel, 6,000-meter digital hydrophone technology. The seismic data being gathered is aimed at identifying targets that may match the recently reported billion barrel oil discovery offshore the east coast of Trinidad, South America directly on the other side of the Atlantic. Formations exist offshore Guinea in Deltaic structures that appear highly favorable for the accumulation of oil and gas. The earliest structures offshore Guinea are likely to be similar to zones offshore South America in that they were formed before the African and South American continents drifted apart creating the Atlantic Ocean. The vessel's bathymetric system is also mapping gas anomalies seeping from deep formations up to the sea floor through faults and fractures. This process along with the seismic data identifies the presence of sub-surface hydrocarbons.
Neil Moore, the President of SCS stated, ``The data taken on a research program conducted in the 1960s indicates high possibilities for petroleum production in the area we are surveying. This area is approximately 30,000 square miles or about the size of East Texas.'' Moore continued, ``Data gathered by the `MV Gulf Supplier' will be processed and interpreted using PrimeView(TM) multi-differential attribute technology at HyperDynamics' Westwood Technology Center. We will make this information available to oil and gas participants who sign up to drill the most prospective sites.''
According to ``The World Subsea Report 2002-2006'' published by Douglas-Westwood/Infield Systems' summary in the February 2002 edition of Offshore magazine, ``The anticipated growth in the region's subsea sector will call for an expenditure of over $7 billion over the period to 2006.'' The article goes on the state that the seismic exploration off the west coast of Africa is part of fourfold increase in subsea activity. The report cites West Africa as perhaps the most significant deep-water region in the world, with major international oil companies such as TotalFinaElf (NYSE: TOT - news), Amerada Hess (NYSE: AHC - news) ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM - news) and British Petroleum (NYSE: BP - news) participating in the region. It also states that some of the interest in West Africa stems from its marked resemblance to discoveries in South America. |
