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PDF THINK TANK: ANALYST
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Also, COSL doesn't need the latest tech in oilfield finding - we just need good enough tech, which is still pretty damn advanced. We're not in competition with anyone - our markets are protected and closed.
From what I know, surveying is NOT labor intensive. It doesn't take thousands of people to wire explosives or conduct magnetic/gravitational surveys. It is incredibly capital intensive, in fact, and requires extremely high tech tools in the form of superconducting gravitometers, magnetometers and seismic data processing with supercomputers.
A typical desert land survey requires a crew of about 500 people to lay cables embedded with seismic sensors (geophone) over a small area, these sensors measure the acoustic returns from a seismic generator. This task is repeated for several years(3 to 5 years) by several large crews until the entire exploration block is surveyed. Over densely forested or rough terrain the same task requires much more time and many more people. It is both capital and labor intensive, the technology involved in capturing this data hasn't evolved much in the last three decades. Data processing and analysis is complex, large NOC's typically prefer to handle this activity in-house for security reasons by engaging specialist for expert interpretation, analysis and advise.
As for Iran, as I said earlier Iranian reservoirs are much more complex than the fields across the strait in Saudi, Kuwait and UAE. To complicate matters these fields have been traditionally poorly-managed and overtime the insertion of high tech solutions have become necessary to sustain Iranian output.