CGG (company)

CGG (originally an acronym for Compagnie Générale de Géophysique) is a French-based geophysical services company founded in 1931.
CGG provides geological, geophysical and reservoir capabilities to customers primarily from the global oil and gas industry. It has three complementary businesses: Equipment, Acquisition, and Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir (GGR).
CGG is listed on Euronext Paris, and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange until October 2018.
History.
CGG.
In 1926, Conrad Schlumberger, and his brother Marcel Schlumberger, formed Société de Prospection Electrique (SPE) which specialized in oil and coal exploration as well as civil engineering.
In March 1931, SPE and Société Géophysique de Recherches Minières (SGRM), both specialists in seismology and magnetometry, merged into La Compagnie Générale de Géophysique. SGRM provided 5,000,000 francs of capital and CGG capital of 120,000 francs. In his premises at 30 rue Fabert, in Paris, Conrad Schlumberger decided to transfer the subsurface business to CGG while SPE retained the logging. At the same time, Raymond Maillet from SGRM was appointed President of CGG.
The first two years of business for CGG were shaky. Near-surface surveys (hydrology, mining and civil engineering) and oil exploration were not enough to break even in a period when oil was worth 10 cents a barrel. In 1966, CGG opened its first seismic data processing center in Massy, France.
Veritas DGC.
Veritas Energy Services, a geophysical services company, was established in 1974 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with the purchase of a Rafael Cruz owned firm Rafael B. Cruz and Associates Ltd. by David B. Robson.
Meanwhile, Digital Consultants Inc. had been established in Houston, Texas in 1965. In 1969, Digital Consultants reincorporated as Digicon Inc. (DGC), becoming a public company on the American Stock Exchange.
In 1996, Veritas DGC was formed from the merger of Veritas and Digicon.
CGGVeritas.
The company became CGGVeritas through its merger with the North American company Veritas in 2007.
CGGVeritas acquired Norwegian company Wavefield Inseis in December 2008.
In September 2012, CGGVeritas acquired Fugro's Geoscience Division for €1.2 billion.
In 2020, the group's net loss reached $442m due to oil crisis which followed the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to $69m in 2019, while turnover fell 35% to $886m. For 2021, CGG expected more optimistic outcome due to vaccination and the rebound in oil prices.
Organization.
Equipment.
CGG's Equipment business, Sercel, offers systems, sensors and sources for seismic acquisition and downhole monitoring. Oilfield service companies and geophysical contractors use the equipment for monitoring subsurface characteristics on onshore, offshore, downhole and seabed activities.
Acquisition.
CGG has data acquisition capabilities to conduct geophysical surveys.
Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir (GGR).
The Geology, Geophysics & Reservoir Division provides seismic and geophysical services for characterizing the subsurface, and monitoring hydrocarbon reservoirs. Services include Land 
and Marine Seismic Acquisition, Geophysical Processing and Imaging, and Reservoir Characterization.