Equatorial Guinea – that’s what this issue breathes. Three articles about one country in one issue of the magazine, that doesn’t happen often. And the best thing is, it was not planned that way. Yet, the articles complement each other very well. The Searcher team provides an excellent overview of the geodynamic setting and basin formation history of the offshore of Equatorial Guinea, the University of Houston contributors describe how temperature modelling shows that source rocks deposited on oceanic crust could have matured sufficiently to generate oil, and finally, the Meren team discusses the prospectivity of two of their offshore licences. A very well-rounded yet unexpected series of contributions.
Most geologists who want to explore want to do so in frontier and far-flung areas where no one has ever been looking at. And making a transformational discovery. Not so much for Tom Dreyer, who recently retired from Equinor. He has always preferred near-field exploration instead. And he turned out to be very good at it; under his leadership, Equinor had two very successful strings of discoveries in areas where major fields were already producing. It shows what can be achieved using diligent back-to-basics geology.
We also welcome a new series of contributions in this issue. Written by Lukasz Krawczynski and Martin Neumaier, these up-and-coming petroleum systems modellers will shed their lights on recent developments in better understanding hydrocarbon generation and trapping. Combined with all the other articles, 40+ in total, this issue is yet another one not to miss.
