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Shell And EMGS Sign Global Frame Agreement

Electromagnetic Geoservices ASA (EMGS) has signed a three-year global frame agreement with Shell International Exploration & Production B.V. for the provision of 3D electromagnetic (EM) services.

Roar Bekker, EMGS chief executive officer, commented: "We are pleased to enter into this agreement with such an experienced user of EM technology. Shell was one of the EM pioneers and is now leading the way in using 3D EM data as an integral part of its exploration strategy."

EMGS had earlier announced it has been awarded a contract worth approximately US$7 million by Shell to acquire 3D electromagnetic data offshore Malaysia. The 3D EM survey will be performed from the vessel EM Leader and will start upon completion of its current work program.

"This contract award confirms the increasing demand we are witnessing for our services in Asia. We are confident that the survey will be the first of numerous back-to-back projects in this region, providing substantially improved utilization levels for the EM Leader in the quarters to come," says Bekker.

Earlier in December, EMGS announced it has received two letters of intent for contracts totalling approximately 10 weeks of 3D EM data acquisition in Asia. The surveys will be performed using the vessel EM Leader following completion of the contract for Shell in Malaysia.

EMGS also signed a contract extension worth approximately US$12 million with Petrobras. As previously announced, data acquisition is on-going with estimated completion in early January.

EMGS, the marine EM market leader, uses its proprietary electromagnetic technology to support oil and gas companies in their search for offshore hydrocarbons. EMGS supports each stage in the workflow, from survey design and data acquisition to processing and interpretation. The company's services enable integration of EM data with seismic and other geophysical and geological information to give explorationists a clearer and more complete understanding of the subsurface. This improves exploration efficiency, and reduces risks and the finding costs per barrel.

EMGS has conducted more than 650 surveys to improve drilling success rates across the world's mature and frontier offshore basins. The company operates on a worldwide basis with main offices in Trondheim, Stavanger and Oslo, Norway; Houston; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.