Data recordings like temperatures and salinity through the water column, currents and weather observations are collected as a part of the PGS seismic acquisition process in order to improve seismic imaging. This activity has created an extensive MultiClient data library with corresponding surplus data. In late March 2017 PGS announced its intention to open the Company's surplus database for research on the ocean. The database dates back to 1991.

"We have just signed an agreement with the Institute of Marine Research in Norway and I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement with another institution, the South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum", says Jon Erik Reinhardsen, President & CEO of PGS. "We will contribute where we can to increase our collective understanding and knowledge of the oceanic environment and we are hopeful that more institutions will respond to our invitation to access our surplus database for research purposes."

The South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum (SAMREF) is enthusiastic about the agreement:

"By leveraging the data collected by commercial ocean-going industries it becomes less costly to collect information on the marine environment for research purposes. This is an idea that is gaining more traction with various marine stakeholders globally and will hopefully lead to research of benefit to both academia and industry. We are excited for this partnership with PGS to help gain further information on South Africa's marine environment", says Nicole du Plessis, SAMREF Project Coordinator.

Media Contact
PGS
Bård Stenberg: bard.stenberg@pgs.com  // +47 992 45 235

South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum (SAMREF)
Nicole du Plessis: samref@saeon.ac.za

About:
PGS Petroleum Geo-Services is a focused marine geophysical company that provides a broad range of seismic and reservoir services, including acquisition, imaging, interpretation, and field evaluation. The Company's MultiClient data library is among the largest in the seismic industry, with modern 3D coverage in all significant offshore hydrocarbon provinces of the world. The Company operates on a worldwide basis with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.

South African Marine Research and Exploration Forum (SAMREF):
SAMREF is a product of the South African Operation Phakisa Oceans Economy programme; sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and hosted at the SAEON Egagasini Node for Marine-Offshore Systems. The goal of the Forum is to identify and take advantage of opportunities provided by marine industries  to gather important marine ecosystem data to increase South Africa's state of knowledge of the offshore marine environment related to renewable energy potential, marine biodiversity and ecology, climate change and ecosystem functioning.