Saeed Haider
Saudi Gazette
The Eastern Province Emir Prince Saud Bin Naif last night patronized the Golden Jubilee celebrations of ARGAS, (the Arabian Geophysical and Surveying Company), and laid the cornerstone of its new Center for Research and Development in the Dhahran Techno Valley, in Dhahran.
The key theme of the celebrations was its growth and development in the past five decades with an eye firmly on the future.
Also present at the celebrations were Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, the Minster of Petroleum and Minerals; Khaled Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Minister of Health and Chairman of Saudi Aramco; Dr. Khalid Bin Saleh Al-Sultan, rector of KFUPM; and Amin Al-Nasser, CEO of Saudi Aramco.
Speaking at the ceremony, ARGAS CEO Saad Bin Saud Al-Akeel, said: “Our new Center for Research and Development is just one step toward the overall vision for our country set by our wise leadership, and a single brick in the building of a prosperous future for a country which is so rich not only in natural resources – but also in its technical prowess and human potentials.”
Also in attendance were senior representatives from TAQA (the Industrial and Energy Services Company) and French geophysical company CCG, the shareholders of ARGAS, as well as representatives from Saudi Aramco and other local petrochemical and minerals enterprises, and guests from some of the Kingdom’s leading universities, KAU, KAST, KACST and KFPM.
ARGAS was established in 1966 as a limited responsibility joint venture, 51% owned by TAQA, and 49% for the French company CGG.
Throughout its 50 years history the acquisition of seismic data has been at the core of ARGAS’s business. Until 2007 ARGAS specialized in the 2D and 3D land acquisition in the Kingdom. Since then ARGAS has diversified our services and undertaken some very important projects with the latest geophysical technology available in the industry.
The projects include: 3D marine surveys in KSA waters of the Arabian Gulf; 2D shallow marine survey in Kuwait; 3D Ocean Bottom Cable surveys in both KSA and Partitioned Neutral Zone waters; 3D Transition zone survey in KSA; 2D and 3D land permanent reservoir monitoring surveys; Micro-seismic monitoring surveys; opened a technology center in Al-Khobar in 2008 to provide seismic imaging, reservoir and training services.
In the four-year period from 2010 to 2013 ARGAS operated the world’s two largest Ocean Bottom Cable surveys in Saudi waters of the Arabian Gulf followed by another in the Partitioned Neutral Zone and finally in Kuwait.
