New leases in the Gulf of Mexico have opened for oil and gas exploration since Mexico’s oil reform in 2013. National environmental regulation requires all companies to conduct a multidisciplinary environmental baseline survey, including characterizing surface sediments and water column properties, prior to any exploration drilling activities to establish an accurate baseline for Mexico’s deep seabed conditions. Supporting ERM, INSPIRE generated a cost-effective documented baseline to which successive surveys can be accurately compared.

Physical, biological, and geological conditions of surficial sediments within the study area were easily communicated with SPI imagery and INSPIRE’s visualization tools. They effectively informed stakeholders of baseline conditions in an accessible and intuitive format while comprehensively documenting all surface sediments and sedimentary horizons preserved in the seafloor. Our technology will also support assessment of post-exploration and post-production seafloor conditions.