How to Properly Value Your Seismic Divestitures

Current market conditions have significantly increased the purchase and selling of oil and gas assets. Companies are looking at “strategic alternatives” which is really just code for finding all available options to sell their company or assets, but they aren’t going to take just any offer in hopes of preserving shareholder value. These asset sales have created an opportunity for deal makers and entrepreneurs. In the midst of an effort to monetize assets, Sigma discovered that many companies ignore the value that their seismic has by underestimating or overlooking this valuable asset in the process.

Although every acquisition or divestiture is unique, most have a standard approach to transferring the seismic ownership or new licensing as a part of a divestiture. Does your company have a standard way of dealing with seismic data for divestitures? During our 48 years in the seismic business, Sigma has been involved in several divestitures that include the transfer of seismic data.

Precise wording can be used to add value to your divestiture agreements and assist you as the seller or purchaser in obtaining data, especially as it pertains to partnered data (data with more than one owner). Sigma is positioned and prepared with the expertise to help companies with drafting transfer, monetization and management of seismic as an asset for your company. 

Selling seismic assets

As a seller of seismic assets, you must ask yourself the following questions:

  • Are we selling the proprietary rights to our seismic?
  • Will the acquiring company receive a licensed copy of 100% of our proprietary data?
  • How will we handle our partnered seismic?
  • Can our entire seismic database be filtered into three categories?
    • 100% Proprietary
    • Partnered
    • Trade

As a seller, the ability to categorize your seismic data in these three categories allows you to properly manage seismic questions throughout the sales process.

Purchasing seismic assets

As a purchaser of assets, the exact questions above should be answered as it pertains to the seismic data that will be included in the transaction. Having an understanding of the current status of the seller’s seismic data and what you are expecting to receive at the end of the sales process will allow you to bid accordingly for each asset sale.

Sigma is extremely well positioned to assist in this process with either the seller or the purchaser as it relates to the seismic data. We can provide the expertise to clean up your seismic database prior to an asset sale, handle the transfer and licensing of proprietary or partnered seismic, or offer guidance prior to the sale.

If you’re looking for support on coordinating your corporate divestitures, contact our team to get started, or learn more about our other seismic services.

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