Specialist
Former C-level executive at TGS-NOPEC Geophysical Company ASA
Agenda
- Supply and demand update
- Multiclient, pre-order and contract outlook
- Contract and library sales opportunities, focusing on LATAM spend
- Streamer CAPEX cycle in light of recent positive results
Questions
1.
What significant changes would you highlight in the geophysical industry and seismic acquisition sector over the last two years?
2.
How would you say CGG and WesternGeco compare as customers to the E&P companies?
3.
What proportion of total spend comes from CGG and WesternGeco compared to E&P?
4.
If, for example, Polarcus was historically selling to E&P companies, and now sells to CGG or WesternGeco, would it take a discount or a premium to sell to them?
5.
The order book increases of around 98% in Q4 2019, with 40% higher contract prices, show the recovery we have been waiting for. What is your 2020 outlook for the seismic acquirers, given the increase in order book?
6.
Do you think if no boats come out of stacking there will still be an increase in pricing, and if so, how significant do you think that could be over 2020?
7.
If any boats come out of cold stack, what do you think would happen to the contract and multi-client pricing?
8.
How many vessels coming out do you think would have a significant impact on the ability to increase pricing by 20%?
9.
You suggested a strong focus on the industry maintaining discipline. Is this purely discipline related to bringing vessels off the cold stack?
10.
In which regions would you say CAPEX in seismic acquisition is increasing most significantly?
11.
Why is that shift to ocean-bottom node happening? Do you not think the quality is good enough for these 3D well-processed, well-acquired streamers?
12.
What would you estimate is the delta in cost per hectare of ocean-bottom node vs streamer acquisition now compared to three years ago?
13.
Which players do you think have the best libraries in place for this LATAM multi-client expansion?
14.
Considering the price increases over 2019 and the forecasts over 2020, do you think there is temptation for some of the smaller players to decrease pricing and gain market share?
15.
How would you compare the PGS-type multi-client and contract strategy to the pure multi-client strategies? What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
16.
Do you think this multi-client and contract strategy brings any challenges for PGS’s operations in the long- term?
17.
What trends are you noticing in prepayment for these large multi-client surveys?
18.
If pre-funding is becoming easier, why isn’t there a more significant increase in the percentage of pre- funding?
19.
Have you noted any change in the average discount offered at pre-funding stage?
20.
Considering PGS’s refinancing and the difficulties getting it, how would you tie this into the future of its Ramform vessels? How necessary do E&P companies consider Ramform-type boats? Is the recovery strong enough yet to get these boats fully utilised?
21.
How significant would the recovery need to be for 24 streamers to be utilised with the Ramform design, or at least more than 16?
22.
Can we turn to CGG and the Sercel part of the business, particularly the replacement cycle on the streamers? Given the recovery, what are your expectations for replacements within the existing fleet of the streamers, or do you think the average age of the streamers will continue to increase?
23.
Who do you think would be the likely customers of the Sercel ocean-bottom node? When would you expect significant volumes to come online?
24.
Why do you think CGG wanted to get out of the JV with Fugro on Seabed Geosolutions, and then get into its own product?
25.
If ocean-bottom nodes do reach the same cost as streamers, what would happen to all of the vessels that are used, such as the Ramform ships from PGS?
26.
What is your view on the quality of processing across the majors? In previous Interviews CGG has been touted as the best processor. Does that still hold true, and does it also still determine contract wins?
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