Geospace Technologies Profile
Geospace Technologies Corporation principally designs and manufactures seismic instruments and equipment. The company also markets its seismic products to other industries for vibration monitoring, border and perimeter security and various geotechnical applications. The company designs and manufactures other products of a non-seismic nature, including water meter products, imaging equipment, offshore cables, remote shutoff water valves and Internet of Things (IoT) platform. Additionally, the company provides contract manufacturing services, which leverage its capabilities and manufacturing resources.
Segments
The company operates through three segments: Oil and Gas Markets, Adjacent Markets, and Emerging Markets.
Oil and Gas Markets segment
Oil and Gas Markets business segment has historically accounted for the majority of the company's revenue. Geoscientists use seismic data primarily in connection with the exploration, development and production of oil and gas reserves to map potential and known hydrocarbon bearing formations and the geologic structures that surround them. This segment's products include wireless seismic data acquisition systems, reservoir characterization products and services, and traditional seismic exploration products, such as geophones, hydrophones, leader wire, connectors, cables, marine streamer retrieval and steering devices and various other seismic products.
Traditional Products
An energy source and a data recording system are combined to acquire seismic data. The company provides many of the components of seismic data recording systems, including geophones, hydrophones, multi-component sensors, leader wire, geophone strings, connectors, seismic telemetry cables and other seismic related products. On land, the company's customers use geophones, leader wire, cables and connectors to receive and measure seismic reflections resulting from an energy source into data recording units, which store the seismic information for subsequent processing and analysis. In the marine environment, large ocean-going vessels tow long seismic cables known as 'streamers' containing hydrophones that are used to detect pressure changes. Hydrophones transmit electrical impulses back to the vessel's data recording unit where the seismic data is stored for subsequent processing and analysis. The company's marine seismic products also help steer streamers while being towed and help recover streamers if they become disconnected from the vessel.
The company's seismic sensor, cable and connector products are compatible with most major competitive seismic data acquisition systems in use. Revenue from these products results primarily from seismic contractors purchasing the company's products as components of new seismic data acquisition systems or to repair and replace components of seismic data acquisition systems already in use.
Wireless Products
The company has developed multiple versions of a land-based wireless (or nodal) seismic data acquisition system. Rather than utilizing interconnecting cables as required by most traditional land data acquisition systems, each of the company's wireless stations operate as an independent data collection system, allowing for virtually unlimited channel configurations. As a result, the company's wireless systems require less maintenance, which it allows its customers to operate more effectively and efficiently because of its reduced environmental impact, lower weight and ease of operation. Each wireless station is available in a single-channel or three-channel configuration.
The company has also developed a marine-based wireless seismic data acquisition system called the OBX. Similar to the company's land-based wireless systems, the marine OBX system may be deployed in virtually unlimited channel configurations and does not require interconnecting cables between each station. The company has two versions of OBX nodal stations. A shallow water version that can be used in depths up to 750 meters and a deepwater version that can be deployed in depths of up to 3,450 meters. Through September 30, 2023, the company has sold 13,000 OBX stations and it has 28,000 OBX stations in its rental fleet.
In August 2022, the company announced the release of a new seismic acquisition product known as Mariner, a continuous, cable-free, four channel autonomous, shallow water ocean bottom recorder. Mariner is the next generation node designed for extended duration seabed ocean bottom seismic data acquisition. The slim profile nodes, which are part of the company's shallow water stations, are ideally deployed as deep as 750 meters. The device continuously records for up to 70 days and offers more rapid recharging times. Its slim profile creates space savings on seismic survey vessels, allowing contractors to fit up to 25% more nodes into a download/charge container.
In August 2023, the company announced the latest in its ocean bottom node product line known as Aquanaut, a deepwater, wireless seismic acquisition node capable of operating for 200 days in water as deep at 3,450 meters.
Reservoir Products
The company has developed permanently installed high-definition reservoir monitoring systems for land and ocean-bottom applications in producing oil and gas fields. The company's electrical reservoir monitoring systems are installed on numerous offshore reservoirs in the North Sea and elsewhere. Through its acquisition of the OptoSeis fiber optic sensing technology, the company offers both electrical and fiber optic reservoir monitoring systems. These high-definition seismic data acquisition systems have a flexible architecture allowing them to be configured as a subsurface system for both land and marine reservoir-monitoring projects. The scalable architecture of these systems enables custom designed configuration for applications ranging from low-channel engineering and environmental-scale surveys requiring a minimum number of recording channels to high-channel surveys required to efficiently conduct permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM). The modular architecture of these products allows virtually unlimited channel expansion for these systems.
In 2023, the company released a derivative of the OptoSeis technology for high temperature downhole applications.
In addition, the company produces seismic borehole acquisition systems that employ a fiber optic augmented wireline capable of very high data transmission rates. These systems are used for several reservoir monitoring applications, including an application pioneered by the company allowing operators and service companies to monitor and measure the results of hydraulic fracturing operations.
The company's multi-component seismic product developments also include an omni-directional geophone for use in reservoir monitoring, a compact marine three-component or four-component gimbaled sensor and special-purpose connectors, connector arrays and cases.
The company has maintained active discussions with potential clients for future PRM systems. During 2022, in coordination with a potential client, the company concluded a successful demonstration of its OptoSeis fiber optic PRM technology in real-world field conditions. This demonstration was a prerequisite step toward future contract consideration. The company has also held discussions and received requests for information from other major oil and gas producers regarding PRM systems.
Adjacent Markets segment
Adjacent Markets businesses leverage upon existing manufacturing facilities and engineering capabilities utilized by its Oil and Gas Markets businesses. Many of the seismic products in the company's Oil and Gas Markets segment, with little or no modification, have direct application to other industries.
The company's business diversification strategy has centered largely on translating expertise in ruggedized engineering and manufacturing into expanded customer markets. To bolster the solid market share, the company has established in the water utility market for water meter cables. In 2021, it owns the smart water IoT company Aquana, LLC (Aquana).
Industrial Products
The company's industrial products include water meter products, remote shut-off water valves and IoT Platform, contract manufacturing services and seismic sensors used for vibration monitoring.
The company's water meter products support the global smart meter connectivity water utility market. The company's products provide its customers with highly reliable automated meter-reading and automated meter infrastructure with its robust water-proof connectors.
The company's remote disconnect values and water IoT platform allows customers that manage multi-family and commercial properties to monitor their properties for leak and burst events, with real-time notifications, complimented with its remote-shut off to stop water damage. These products also allow water utilities to control and monitor water use remotely, discontinue or limit service without placing its employees in potential harm or danger.
The company's robust manufacturing capabilities have allowed it to provide specialized contract manufacturing services for printed circuit board manufacturing, cabling and harnesses, machining, injection molding and electronic system assembly.
The company's seismic sensors provide unique high definition, low frequency sensing that allows for vibration monitoring in industrial machinery, mine safety and earthquake detection.
Imaging Products
The company's imaging products include electronic pre-press products that employ direct thermal imaging, direct-to-screen printing systems, and digital inkjet printing technologies targeted at the commercial graphics, industrial graphics, textile, and flexographic printing industries.
Emerging Markets segment
Emerging Markets business segment consists entirely of the company's Quantum business. Quantum's product line includes a proprietary detection system called SADAR, which detects, locates, and tracks items of interest in real-time. Using the SADAR technology, Quantum designs and sells products used for border and perimeter security surveillance, cross-border tunneling detection and other products targeted at movement monitoring, intrusion detection and situational awareness. Quantum's customers include various agencies of the U.S. government, including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies, as well as energy companies needing real-time monitoring of seismic data.
Business Strategy
The key elements of the company's strategy are to continue investment in product research and development; and selectively pursue acquisitions of businesses with technological and engineering overlap.
Competition
Oil and Gas Products
The principal competitors for many of the company's traditional seismic products are Sercel (a division of CGG) and INOVA. Furthermore, entities in China affiliated with Sercel, as well as other Chinese manufacturers produce low-cost oil and gas seismic products, which compete with the company's traditional seismic products.
The primary competitors for the company's land wireless data acquisition systems are SmartSolo, Sercel, INOVA, STRYDE, Geophysical Technologies and numerous smaller entities who have introduced similar versions of wireless data acquisition systems. The company's primary competitors for the rental of its traditional and land wireless seismic equipment are STRYDE, SmartSolo, INOVA, and Geophysical Technologies. The company's primary competitor for its seabed permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) systems is Alcatel-Lucent. The company's primary competitors for high-definition borehole seismic data acquisition systems are Avalon Sciences Ltd and Sercel. The company's primary competitors for the new energy or energy transition markets are Microseismic, Inc., Namometrics, ISTI and Environmental, Society and Governance (ESG).
Markets and Customers
The company's principal customers for its traditional and wireless seismic products are seismic contractors and, to a lesser extent, major independent and government-owned oil and gas companies that either operate their own seismic crews or specify seismic instrument and equipment preferences to contractors. For its deepwater PRM products, its customers are generally large international oil and gas companies that operate long-term offshore oil and gas producing properties. The company's industrial product customers consist of specialty manufacturers, research institutions and industrial product distributors. The company's imaging customers primarily consist of direct users of its equipment, as well as specialized resellers that focus on the screen-printing and flexographic printing industries. The company's border and perimeter security customers are primarily government agencies. The company's smart water connectivity customers include municipalities, water utilities, water meter manufacturing companies, as well as asset management firms, such as multifamily property owners.
Intellectual Property
The company holds patents on geophones, micro-geophones, piezo-electric sensors, seismic data acquisition, in-line retrieval devices and water meter connectors, and it has pending applications on related technology. The company's patents are scheduled to expire at various dates through 2039.
Research and Development
The company incurred company-sponsored research and development expenses of $16.0 million during the year ended September 30, 2023.
History
Geospace Technologies Corporation was founded in 1980. The company was incorporated as a Delaware corporation in 1994. The company was reincorporated as a Texas corporation in 2015.
