There is hype and there is reality. This issue of the magazine addresses the matter from a few different perspectives. First, there is the hype of E&P companies going big on exploration again. Press releases all over to demonstrate it. But when you talk to the analysts, who tend to take a detailed look at the real commitments over and above picking up a licence, there is not so much to report on yet. The reality is that companies are still operating very carefully, and that there is no such thing as a hopper of drilling programmes in place yet. Then there is the geothermal hype versus the geothermal reality. Eavor and Fervo both featured in the news in recent years with their respective closed-loop and EGS concepts, ready to conquer the world. But the reality has kicked in; Eavor has pulled operatorship from their flagship Geretsried project, whilst the limited data Fervo has shared on their Cape Station project look less rosy than they probably want to admit. The subsurface doesn’t do hypes.
FIRSTS
8 – Subsurface noise
10 – Energy matters – by Rodney Garrard
11 – Regional update – by Ian Cross
12 – Striking oil – New oil in an old field
INSIGHTS
96 – The class of ’71… – by Juan Cottier
97 – Technology – The next step for National Data Repositories – by Dan Austin
98 – Geomechanics – Your fault stability analysis might be lying to you – by Fermin Fernandez-Ibanez
99 – Decommissioning – How decommissioning slowly becomes more of an integral part of the E&P cycle
100 – HotSpot– North Slope leasing, exploration, and development – by NVentures
101 – Use your brines – What else is hiding in your reservoir brine? – by István Nagy-Korodi
102 – Petroleum Systems –Why dual-phase systems demand a new assessment approach – by Lukasz Krawczynski and Martin Neumaier
103 – The rebellious proto-Riedel shear zones – by Molly Turko
104 – Nothing beats the field – Wadi Nukhul – a glimpse of the Red Sea-Gulf of Suez rift system – by Ian Sharp, Equinor
106 – Vertical Geology – Beyond turbidites: Core insights from the Rovuma Basin – by Corneliu Cosovanu
COVER STORY
14 – Frontier exploration – Are we seeing a revival?
EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITIES
20 – A Cenomanian – Turonian source rock adventure in the Pelotas Basin – Searcher
36 – From image to insight: Why seismic data quality matters for CO₂ storage – Viridien
62 – AI-driven integration for deeper subsurface insights – Earth Science Analytics
90 – Halo oils, tight-rock saturation, and production allocation: What the North American playbook can and can’t tell the next set of unconventional basins – GeoMark
FROM THE INDUSTRY
44 – Is your data NDR compliant? – Katalyst Data Management
50 – Before you decide to enter Venezuela… – U3Explore
56 – Hybrid terrain, unified technology – GT’s land‑nodal system for high‑quality transition zone seismic data acquisition – Geofizyka Toruń
60 – Moveout democratises data transformation – Moveout Data
OIL & GAS
26 – The increasing importance of DHI’s in the Rotliegend play of the Southern North Sea
27 – The Sinapa saga – by Neil Hodgson
28 – Oil-water contacts don’t exist
29 – Deepwater’s playbook for delivering growth – by Gordon Hardie
30 – The sediment waves of Sangomar
31 – Seismic reflections – lithological boundaries or timelines? – Saga
32 – The boon of Block 6 – by Rene Jonk and Henk Kombrink
33 – Why amplitude-supported prospects are not the silver bullet we are led to believe
34 – Geliga-1 – the gas discovery sourced by sandstones
FEATURES
42 – The basement tapes
46 – Spatial variation in charge risk along the Guyana-Suriname margin – by Kenneth Shipper, Paul Mann, Andrew Pepper
52 – Frontier volumes, near-field risk
58 – “Reservoir engineering was too boring for me”
PORTRAITS
68 – “Running a company is like having a long-term relationship – You have to give and take, but always carry on”, Vasilii Shelkov
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
74 – The low productivity of enhanced geothermal systems – by Elliot Yearsley
76 – Why high oil prices can also be a bad thing for the energy transition
SUBSURFACE STORAGE
78- Storing heat in basement rocks
79 – Exploring salt for hydrogen storage
80 – Many CCS projects will falter quietly without the promised benefits
DEEP SEA MINERALS
82 – Movement towards a mining moratorium
83 – Mic drop: Dropstones are, in fact, polymetallic nodules – by Ronny Setså
84 – Do we need seabed minerals?
NEW GAS
86 – Deep hydrogen in Lorraine: An appraisal well or a science project? – Arnout Everts
87 – Time to recycle party balloons
88 – Revival of South Africa’s first commercial Helium project
