Saudi Aramco to use robots for oil surveys

French engineering company CGGVeritas announced it signed a collaboration deal with Saudi Aramco to survey offshore oil using robots. The company said it secured the deal with Saudi Aramco to develop its so-called SpiceRack project, a research program meant for seabed seismic acquisition of oil projects. "Based on the deployment of self-propelled recording nodes, this innovative solution is expected to lead to a step-change in the efficient delivery of reservoir quality seismic data," the company said. CGGVeritas said it would strengthen its ties with Saudi Arabia by working at various research institutions there as part of the research and development deal. Samer al-Ashgar, a manager at an advanced research division within Saudi Aramco, said the project is within the company's long-term objectives for exploration and field development. The SpiceRack program, he said in a statement, "is expected to deliver a game changer in automating seismic data acquisition." Financial terms weren't disclosed though the announcement comes five months after both sides signed a memorandum of understanding to work together on geophysical research and development.