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CGG (company)

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CGG S.A.
Company typeSociété Anonyme
ISINFR0013181864
IndustryGeoscience
Founded1931
HeadquartersMassy, France
Area served
Global
Key people
Sophie Zurquiyah (CEO)
ServicesGeoscience
Number of employees
3,890 FY2020
SubsidiariesCompagnie Générale de Géophysique (Norway)
Wavefield Inseis (Norway)
Websitewww.cgg.com

CGG SA (CGG), currently rebranded as Viridien, is a multinational geoscience technology services company that specializes on solving complex natural resource, environmental and infrastructure challenges.[1][2][3][4]

CGG is listed on Euronext Paris, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until October 1, 2018.[5][6]

In December 2023, the company was authorized to conduct seismic blasting between Plettenberg Bay and Gqeberha in South Africa. The decision sparked protests by environmentalist groups who accused the company of involvement in ecocide. [7]

At May 15 2024, CGG Inc officially rebranded to Viridien. It further strengthening its focus across a portfolio of solutions including the Core business of Geoscience, Earth Data and Sensing & Monitoring, as well as new offerings in both the Low Carbon markets of Minerals & Mining and CCS, and markets beyond energy in High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Infrastructure Monitoring.

History

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In 1926, Conrad Schlumberger, and his brother Marcel Schlumberger, formed Société de Prospection Electrique (SPE) which specialized in oil and coal exploration as well as civil engineering.

In March 1931, SPE and Société Géophysique de Recherches Minières (SGRM), both specialists in seismology and magnetometry, merged into La Compagnie Générale de Géophysique (CGG). SGRM provided 5,000,000 francs of capital and CGG capital of 120,000 francs. In his premises at 30 rue Fabert, in Paris, Conrad Schlumberger decided to transfer the subsurface business to CGG while SPE retained the logging. At the same time, Raymond Maillet from SGRM was appointed President of CGG.

The first two years of business for CGG were shaky. Near-surface surveys (hydrology, mining and civil engineering) and oil exploration were not enough to break even in a period when oil was worth 10 cents a barrel. In 1966, CGG opened its first seismic data processing center in Massy, France.

Veritas DGC

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Veritas Energy Services, a geophysical services company, was established in 1974 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with the purchase of a Rafael Cruz owned firm Rafael B. Cruz and Associates Ltd. by David B. Robson.

Meanwhile, Digital Consultants Inc. had been established in Houston, Texas in 1965. In 1969, Digital Consultants reincorporated as Digicon Inc. (DGC), becoming a public company on the American Stock Exchange.

In 1996, Veritas DGC was formed from the merger of Veritas and Digicon.

CGGVeritas

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The company became CGGVeritas through its merger with the North American company Veritas in 2007.

CGGVeritas acquired Norwegian company Wavefield Inseis in December 2008.[8]

CGG

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In September 2012, CGGVeritas acquired Fugro's Geoscience Division for €1.2 billion,[9] and changed back its name to CGG

In 2020, the group's net loss reached $442m due to oil crisis which followed the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to $69m in 2019, while turnover fell 35% to $886m. For 2021, CGG expected more optimistic outcome due to vaccination and the rebound in oil prices.[10]

Operations

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Natural Resources

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CGG develops geoscience technology to find natural resources and manage those resources sustainably. The organization focuses on the development process of oil & gas, the lifecycle of minerals & mining, and the monitoring and evaluation of geothermal developments.

Minerals and Mining: CGG supports mineral exploration through global geological predictions and plate kinematic studies, satellite-derived surface material alteration targeting, provision of geophysical equipment, and the development and provision of modeling software.[11][12]

Geothermal: CGG evaluates and monitors geothermal developments to gain insight across asset life cycle by utilizing data & analytics, resource assessments, reservoir characterization, and production & monitoring.[13]

Environmental

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CGG utilizes analytics and earth monitoring to understand human impact on environment. CGG focuses on critical environmental insight (on land, ocean, or atmosphere) through remote sensing, machine learning analytics, data analysis & interpretation, and high performance computing (HPC).[14]

Some of the environmental projects in which CGG has worked on include conducting microplastics pollution surveys as part of study for an effort to create a Plastic Free zone at Yr Wydffa (Snowdon).[15]

Infrastructure

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CGG utilizes monitoring technology to understand infrastructure's life span, conditions, and need of enhancements. CGG's Sercel Structural Monitoring solutions detect potential issues early on to provide structure integrity and public safety.[16]

One of the known applications of CGG's infrastructure monitoring technology is in its work on the "Connected Bridges" project for the French public body. CGG contributed to implementation of autonomous sensors and cloud based signal processing.[17]

Energy Transition

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CGG is focused on monitoring of geothermal developments, carbon capture/ utilization and storage, and management of minerals to find solutions to reach a sustainable and zero-carbon future. CGG intelligence evaluates and monitors geothermal developments across asset life. CGG has capabilities on screening, evaluating, and monitoring of sub-surface risks to speed up development and minimize risk. Additionally, CGG works on responsible management of minerals for energy transition.[18][19][20]

Digital

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CGG has digital capabilities in data management, data transformation, machine learning, and cloud services.[21]

Organization

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Equipment

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CGG's Equipment business, Sercel, offers systems, sensors and sources for seismic acquisition and downhole monitoring.[4] Oilfield service companies and geophysical contractors use the equipment for monitoring subsurface characteristics on onshore, offshore, downhole and seabed activities.

Acquisition

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CGG has had data acquisition capabilities to conduct geophysical surveys, both on the ground (Land division) and at sea (Marine division).

In a move to focus on geophysical services, it got rid of those divisions, ending in 2019 by the sale of its last vessels to Shearwater Geoservices.[22]

Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir (GGR)

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The Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir Division provides seismic and geophysical services for characterizing the subsurface, and monitoring hydrocarbon reservoirs. Services include Land and Marine Seismic Acquisition, Geophysical Processing and Imaging, and Reservoir Characterization.

Seismic Survey Controversies

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In December 2023, it was announced by environmental group Seaspiracy that CGG had been granted authorization by the South African government to conduct seismic blasting between Plettenberg Bay and Gqeberha.

The announcement stirred backlash from environmental groups and South African civil society. This backlash mirrored a similar response to attempts by Shell PLC and Shearwater Geo to conduct seismic blasting off the Wild Coast in December 2021.[23] [24]

References

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  1. ^ "CGG Launches MineScope for Essential Insight throughout the Mining Lifecycle". barsc.org.uk. 11 April 2019. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  2. ^ "CGG launches monitoring solution for tailings storage facilities". globalminingreview.com. 9 November 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  3. ^ "CGG Launches SeaScope as part of expanding environmental monitoring portfolio". ml-eu.globenewswire.com (Press release). May 6, 2021. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "CGG: Sercel Brings its Technical Expertise to Structural Health and Earth Monitoring Markets". live.euronext.com (Press release). April 12, 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2022. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  5. ^ "CGG Plans to Delist from the NYSE". marinelink.com. September 11, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  6. ^ "CGG to Apply for the Delisting of its American Depositary Shares from the New York Stock Exchange and Deregistration with the Securities and Exchange Commission". globenewswire.com (Press release). September 11, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2022.
  7. ^ "Nelson Mandela Bay anti-seismic survey protesters blast CGG authorisation". Herald Live. 10 December 2023.
  8. ^ "CGG: Our History 2009". CGG. Retrieved 15 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Transforming CGGVeritas into a Leading Integrated Geoscience Company". CGGVeritas.com. 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  10. ^ "CGG creuse ses pertes en 2020, attend une reprise cette année". Le Figaro (in French). 5 March 2021.
  11. ^ "Minerals & Mining Resources". CGG.
  12. ^ "CGG Launches MineScope". BARSC. 11 April 2019.
  13. ^ "CGG wraps up global geothermal study for energy major". Upstream, NHST Media Group. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Environmental Sciences". CGG.
  15. ^ "Creating a Plastic Free Zone on Snowdon". BusinessNewsWales. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
  16. ^ "About us". Sercel Structural Health Monitoring. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  17. ^ "Sercel selected by Cerema for "Connected Bridges" project". blog.sercel.com. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  18. ^ "CGG: Energy Transition". www.cgg.com. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  19. ^ "CGG: Minerals & Mining Services". www.cgg.com. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  20. ^ GMT, Recharge Content Studio www cgg com Published 25 January 2022 21:21. "Geoscientists bring expertise to carbon capture and storage | Recharge Sponsor Content". Recharge | Latest renewable energy news. Retrieved 2022-05-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "CGG: Digital". www.cgg.com. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
  22. ^ "StackPath". 9 January 2020.
  23. ^ "Nelson Mandela Bay anti-seismic survey protesters blast CGG authorisation". Herald Live. 10 December 2023.
  24. ^ "Activists in SA threaten to bring Shell to its knees amid protests against plans to conduct a seismic survey". SABC. 5 December 2021.
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