We’re ready to go to Houston! As you may recognise from the front cover, the fourth issue of this year features an artist’s impression of drilling a well in the Gulf of Mexico. Why? Because here, as in many other parts of the world, drilling a little deeper can sometimes result in a surprising find. Our cover story describes a series of those discoveries, which are sometimes serendipitous, but based on recent developments it can also be concluded that some companies have started to systematically explore and produce hydrocarbons beneath existing accumulations. This is the case in China, for example, and in Saudi Arabia.
What else can you expect from this issue? An interview with Sarah Stogner, a lawyer from Texas who has made headlines recently in her efforts to make sure that companies are plugging their Permian Basin wells properly. Her confrontational approach is something not often seen in the industry, and may shake up things a bit!
We also host a great number of seismic foldouts again, taking you from Trinidad via the Gulf of Mexico to Papua New Guinea and back to the UK North Sea!
And, as always, our contributors share their subsurface expertise in a wide variety of columns.
