Insight article
RESHAPING MULTI-CLIENT IN AN EVOLVING MARKET
27 Mar 2025
Read Time
5 mins
The seismic market has changed. Fewer explorers, shifting geographies, and a new kind of risk appetite mean the old model doesn’t fit anymore. It’s time for a sharper, more disciplined approach—one that meets clients where they are and delivers returns faster. Here’s how we’re reshaping multi-client for today’s energy landscape.Written by:
Tanya Herwanger, SVP New Markets
Fredrik Amundsen, VP Global Multi-client
The energy sector has undergone a massive transformation in the past decade. From policy and regulatory changes in oil and gas exploration to technological advancements and a rising energy demand across the globe.
As the market evolves, we need to adapt and reshape how we provide seismic data to the industry. Seismic plays a vital role in responsible exploration.
Our clients rely on high quality seismic, in the right place at the right time to de-risk investment and prioritize the right assets for development. Read on to explore how a new approach to multi-client is better at meeting today’s seismic needs of energy companies.
The market is changing and so is the multi-client business
The phrase “the market is changing” is probably the most repeated one in our industry right now. It’s especially true when it comes to the multi-client business model.
Historically, multi-client data, once known as spec data (short for speculative), involved seismic companies making educated guesses about potential exploration zones. These companies would acquire seismic data from promising areas even before energy firms secured exploration licenses. These data were then sold multiple times to various clients, allowing energy firms to make early decisions regarding acreage positions, work programs, and their own investments. That is where the ‘multi’ in multi-client comes from and what generated synergies and economies of scale.
As areas matured, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the Norwegian Continental Shelf this model became a cost-effective way for oil companies to continue to explore, produce from, and understand the subsurface in those areas.
Today, the multi-client landscape has shifted dramatically. We believe this change is driven by:
- Shifting exploration: Exploration is shifting to less mature market environments with different market dynamics and predictability
- Consolidation of exploration companies: Fewer companies are now exploring; this also limits the number of potential partners and therefore drives prioritization.
- Capacity and capability as the new capital: Supply of seismic data is consolidated, and capacity and capability has become the new capital.
As a result, the market today is characterized by:
- More mono than multi: Increasingly, multi-client data is acquired over held acreage specifically for one client or a partner group, rather than multiple clients.
- Decline of regional surveys: Large regional surveys providing screening or early mapping data to multiple clients are becoming rare. Instead, we see large license acreage awarded to the same client. This challenges the economies of scale characteristic of traditional multi-client.
- Focused and disciplined approach: Now, the multi-client approach is about enabling seismic acquisition for a smaller, more disciplined group of energy companies, ensuring permits are strategically placed and capacity and capabilities are deployed optimally.
Embracing the reality of modern multi-client investments
We need to dare to acknowledge that today’s multi-client investments will not return 2 to 3 times investments. Today’s multi-client data is not regional footprints catering to future license rounds in Norway or Gulf of Mexico where 40-50 clients compete for acreage in a scheduled license round in areas with predictable terms.
Today, energy companies are exploring to enable energy security in developing markets with less mature and predictable terms. They seek access to larger acreage positions and are prepared to make long-term investments in development and infrastructure to bring potential discoveries to market. This influences how energy companies prioritize and their ability to act in a predictable pattern.
For Shearwater this change has created an opportunity. We have seen an opportunity to diversify our offering to energy companies who seek to use the multi-client business model in new and different ways. Without having a large seismic data library to defend we can more easily embrace and adopt the logical conclusion of the market changes. And set expectations for return accordingly.
A disciplined approach to multi-client can yield profit over a shorter timeframe, provided we undertake the right projects, in the right place at the right time. Shearwater has in a relatively short period of time strategically built a robust footprint of data coverage in some of the world’s hottest exploration areas at present.
Starting from the Orange Basin in Namibia to the Pelotas Basin in Brazil , and through to a larger reprocessing program in Foz de Amazonas. Each of these programs has been executed with a strong focus on discipline and near-term cash recovery. Modern multi-client fits Shearwater well and we are deploying it as a complimentary business model.
By adapting our approach, we align ourselves with the need of a changing market and help our clients navigate the new energy landscape. Together, we can embrace the future of exploration with confidence and agility.
Partnering for success in multi-client projects
The key to a rapid multi-client market entry for Shearwater has been an acknowledgement of our own strengths and weaknesses as we take part on this journey. Seeking complementary strengths in mutually beneficial partnerships has been and continue to be a pillar in our strategy. Our relationship with Searcher Seismic has provided both them and us with business success. Something we think is unique in the seismic industry.
Offering a diverse portfolio of assets – ranging from fit-for-purpose vessels to advanced technology to acquire and process seismic data – is key. A testament of Shearwater’s strength is our recently announced capacity agreement with TotalEnergies, one of the leading explorers of the world. Our technological diversity and flexible capacity provide our clients with fit-for-purpose solutions as they find themselves at different stages in the exploration cycle. We believe this flexibility is important for energy companies in the changing market.
There is a demand for our high-capacity vessels and OBN crews, but frontier exploration also demands cost efficient 3D solutions and 2D acquisition with high levels of endurance. Having a diverse fleet with high endurance and global reach is essential, irrespective of which business model you apply.
Meeting a growing energy demand and ensuring energy security means exploring all sources of energy
As global energy demand continues to rise, energy companies are working to ensure that the growing population of the world have access to reliable and sustainable energy sources. Not all energy can come from renewable sources yet. We are continuing to support the development of new energy sources and at the same time it is important that we help energy companies with the right insights for sustainable discoveries of oil and gas as we make the transition.
Seismic data plays a vital role in responsible exploration. We believe that the multi-client model, with its inherent synergies, can be a powerful tool in ensuring energy security. By leveraging shared seismic data, energy companies can make more informed decisions, optimize exploration efforts, and contribute to a sustainable energy future.
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