Spectrum has secured a contract with state-owned Perupetro to reprocess existing 2-D offshore seismic data to assist with the upcoming offshore bid round, according to a news release.

Perupetro will formally launch an international offshore bid round in fourth-quarter 2014. To support the bid round, Spectrum is reprocessing about 13,000 km (8,078 miles) of 2-D multiclient regional seismic data covering the lease sale blocks, the company said in the release. The data will be available in October.

The bid round will include between six and nine offshore blocks located along the central and southern areas of the country, covering the two types of highly prospective hydrocarbon potential sedimentary basins: extensional, pull-apart basins (e.g. Trujillo and Mollendo basin) and upper trench slope basins (e.g. Lima and Pisco basins), the release said.

Spectrum said the area offshore Peru is highly underexplored despite hydrocarbon discoveries along the north coast containing the highest oil production basin in the country. Seismic data and geological and geophysical evaluations have identified several prospects and leads in the region.