Geco (Geophysical Company of Norway) was a European geophysical service company specializing in seismic surveys for petroleum exploration. Starting operating in the North Sea from 1972, the company expanded to operate in most marine areas open for explorations, until Geco was incorporated into Geco-Prakla, with Schlumberger Limited as the solely owner from 1993.
History
The company started as Geoteam-Computas Ltd. A.S on December 13, 1972. The name was shortly afterwards changed to Geophysical Company of Norway, most commonly referred to as Geco. Anders Farestveit was the founder and the first CEO. The main focus was marine seismic surveys, including developing and equipping seismic vessels and conducting seismic surveys on customer requests. Geco was merged with the competing Norwegian geophysical company at that time, Statex (owned by Statoil and Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk) effective from January 1, 1978. Ownership after the merger was shared between Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk and Det Norske Veritas.
Geco retained its identity and name, but extended its service portfolio and global market share from 1978. Besides seismic surveys, the company offered data processing services and interpretation services. The company was spending its earnings in the area of technology research and development. They succeeded in offering a first commercial available 3D seismic interpretation workstation, "Charisma" software, from 1983. Development of a first digital streamer cable, named "Nessie", was completed and in operation from 1984.
The company enjoyed strong expansion until 1985, when there was a global crisis in the oil industry.