Having experienced the hell of civil war, Dr. Ibrahima Diaby, CEO of Côte d’Ivoire’s state oil company, hopes that exploration for oil and gas will help his country to grow and develop.

Kevin Topham was on the Sea Gem when it made the first commercial discovery in the UK North Sea in December 1965 and also when it collapsed, with the death of 13 men. He tells us his story.

Advocate for Change

Susan Morrice, co-founder and chairperson of Belize Natural Energy

As a founding partner of Kosmos Energy, Paul Dailly has been involved in some of the most exciting and significant discoveries of recent years. He tells us the story behind the building of this successful exploration company.

Gladys Gonzalez, 2013–2014 President of the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers, is an enthusiastic geoscientist, committed to increasing diversity in the oil and gas industry.

Executive Vice President of Exploration for Shell, Ceri Powell, talks to us about her life and career - and how it felt to be described (in Fortune Magazine) as the 21st most powerful woman in the world.

Through researching the carbonate deposits in her country’s back yard, a geotechnical engineer is pioneering industry advances on the seafloor.

Mahmoud Abdulbaqi, retired VP of E&P at Saudi Aramco, and one of the founders of the Bahrain GEO series of conferences, tells us about his career and his belief that the way forward for the industry is through finding, educating, training and retaining the right people.

Setting out to explore for hydrocarbons, Noble Energy’s Susan Cunningham found herself on a journey of self-exploration, which led to a host of discoveries beyond her wildest imagination.

Although recently retired, Reg Nelson is still aiming for more in petroleum, minerals and public life.

Ian Forrest was a founder member of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Great Britain, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Raised in one of the poorer parts of Glasgow in Scotland, he flew with the RAF in World War II before going on to explore for hydrocarbons in many parts of the world. Here he tells us about his long and exciting life in oil.

A geologist’s career on the North Slope helped lead to the discovery of North America’s largest oil field and, later, his own geological find.

Surviving the Great Alaska Earthquake was a historical achievement for American geologist Ruth A.M. Schmidt. Other feats were revealed only after her death.

Benjamin Asante, until recently a senior geoscientist at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, has ridden the wave of Ghana’s national development. Although his story is full of significant and unusual personal firsts, it also reflects the rapid economic and social development of a postcolonial African state.