CGGVeritas announced today that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Saudi Aramco for collaborative research and development (R&D) of geophysical acquisition, processing, analysis and interpretation technologies.

The MOU creates a framework for Saudi Aramco and CGGVeritas to identify opportunities for research, development and testing of advanced technologies, including: automation in the seismic value chain for oil and gas exploration and field development, permanent reservoir monitoring systems, non-seismic geophysics, and inversion of seismic/non-seismic data.

Thierry Brizard, executive vice president of technology for CGGVeritas, added, "With our combined knowledge and expertise, the MOU with Saudi Aramco provides a pathway for collaborative research and development, which I expect will bring significant advancements to the science of geophysics and to the progress of reservoir characterization and management.”