Bolt Technology Corporation announced that it has commenced joint efforts with WesternGeco, a product line of Schlumberger, to develop the E-Source* air gun, an environmentally sensitive energy source for marine seismic surveys.

The E-Source air gun is a bandwidth-controlled source of acoustic waves designed to reduce the potential impact of seismic signals on marine life. The new source optimizes output in the seismic band, suppressing the high-frequency components that contribute to acoustic impact, while retaining the low-frequency components that are critical to seismic exploration.

Raymond M. Soto, Bolt’s President and CEO, commented, “In the early 1960s, we invented the marine seismic air gun and today our air guns are the most widely used marine seismic energy source in the world. By combining our unique air gun design and manufacturing experience with WesternGeco knowledge and research in the area of marine acoustics, we believe the new E-Source air gun could represent a significant new development in the geophysical industry. Once fully developed, the E-Source technology will be universally available to the industry.”

Bolt Technology Corporation is a leading worldwide developer and manufacturer of marine seismic data acquisition equipment used for offshore oil and natural gas exploration.

Source: globenewswire, September 20, 2011; Image: slb