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TGS starts US Gulf survey, increases Brazilian fleet
An Oslo-listed owner of seismic acquisition vessels has commenced an ocean bottom node survey in the Gulf of America and improved its fleet utilisation level
Seismic survey vessel owner TGS has started a multi-client survey involving ocean bottom nodes (OBN) in the Gulf of America as part of its strategy to maintain high fleet utilisation levels.
The Oslo, Norway-listed owner said its APEX 1 survey is “a first-of-its-kind, next-generation multi-client long-offset OBN acquisition campaign” which will be completed in June 2026.
OBNs were laid on the seabed in deep waters in Q4 2025 in a denser grid than previous ultra-long offset OBN programmes, to provide a stand-alone exploration dataset using TGS’s Gemini enhanced frequency source.
TGS chief executive Kristian Johansen said the company is “pushing the boundaries of what is possible in multi-client seismic surveys” using this technology.
“APEX 1 is the result of collaboration across the entire company, from acquisition and imaging to commercial and technology teams,” he said.
Multi-client surveys are helping TGS to maintain high fleet utilisation, at 79% in Q4 2025, and minimise vessel lay-up, which was just 1% of the total fleet time in Q4 2025 compared with 22% in the same period in 2024.
Around 49% of its fleet time was spent on multi-client surveys, and 31% on contract work in Q4 2025, compared with 31% on multi-client surveys and 35% on contract days in Q4 2024.
In Q4 2025, 15% of the fleet time was mobilising between contracts and surveys and 5% was in shipyards.
"Our seismic vessel utilisation reached 79% in Q4 2025, up from 73% in the previous quarter,” said Mr Johansen.
“We have established an attractive portfolio of multi-client projects offshore Brazil focusing on the equatorial margin and the Pelotas basin, with strong client support,” he said.
“In Q4 2025, we deployed our third Ramform Titan-class vessel for multi- client work offshore Brazil, and we expect to maintain half of our streamer fleet in the region well into 2026.”
TGS expects multi-client investment to be close to US$120M in Q4 2025, compared with US$100M in Q4 2024, based on a preliminary financial review.
“We enter 2026 with a strong market position, a leaner cost base and a robust balance sheet, having reduced net interest-bearing debt to approximately US$430M,” said Mr Johansen.
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