Viridien is seeing stronger demand for seismic imaging and Earth data as governments reopen basins and exploration and production companies move to secure acreage in emerging and frontier regions.
The company’s geoscience backlog reached $306 million at the end of June 2026, an increase of 33% during the second quarter and 19% since the end of 2025. Viridien attributed the growth to significant project awards from international and national oil companies in the US Gulf, Africa and the Middle East.
Second-quarter geoscience activity included major projects in Guyana, Brazil and Angola. The US Gulf also remained an important contributor as operators prioritised opportunities to optimise production and exploration in mature basins.
Viridien reported further activity across its Earth Data business. New data-acquisition programmes are under way in Uruguay, Guyana and Norway, while the company is conducting 12 seismic-reprocessing projects, many covering frontier basins. It also completed the Laconia multi-client project in the US Gulf during the quarter.
The company said it is seeing signs of a broader, data-led exploration pick-up. Licensing rounds, acreage awards and renewed government promotion of prospective basins are encouraging operators to reassess exploration opportunities, supporting demand for both new seismic acquisition and the reprocessing of legacy datasets.
According to Viridien, operators are seeking to shorten exploration cycles, improve their understanding of the subsurface and increase drilling success rates. The company expects reserves replacement, natural field decline, energy-security concerns and continuing deepwater acreage awards to support longer-term demand for advanced seismic data and imaging technologies.
Viridien’s computing capacity stood at 690 petaflops at the end of June, 17% higher than a year earlier, supporting increasingly data-intensive subsurface imaging.
Conditions were less favourable in the company’s Sensing & Monitoring division, where oil and gas revenue declined by 46% year on year. Viridien attributed much of this reduction to disruption caused by conflict in the Middle East, indicating that the recovery remains uneven across the seismic market.
