Offshore Norway, exploration activity over the last couple of years has reached record-breaking levels, leading to many discoveries, but few of any size. The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, however, believes that large discoveries can still be made in areas of the shelf that have not been extensively explored.

The Gulf of Mexico Basin has proved to be a highly successful hydrocarbon province, and the vast untapped volume of both oil and gas ensures that the basin will continue as a major player for decades to come.

As Iraq's political and security situation gradually becomes more stable and safer, the country's rich oil and gas resources will increasingly draw the attention of international oil companies. This article evaluates the geological inventory of Iraq's oil and gas fields, linking the progress and problems of the past to the prospects of the future.

Recent tests in the Arctic permafrost clearly demonstrates that gas hydrates can be produced using current technologies, opening the door for a new, viable energy source.

With more than 2 billion barrels of oil to be recovered, StatoilHydro has a huge resource to tap into in the Alberta oil sands, which may last into the second half of this century.

Heavy oil offers a possible solution to our need for a constant supply of new and secure energy supplies, but its production is characterized by low recovery, so the industry faces the conundrum of how to convert these giant resources into easily produced supplies.

The question is not when we run out of oil, but when we are no longer able to increase our total energy output. In the meantime, like it or not, we will have to rely on the coal industry.

As the search for hydrocarbons moves into increasingly unwelcoming and difficult terrain, a niche market in leading oil and service companies safely through the dangers of a hostile environment has developed.

A small coal basin located near the south central Oregon coast will soon be producing gas. Against all odds, this project provides an in depth look into how one man and a lot of persistence can pay off.

Producing energy from rock that burns is entering into a new research and development phase. Can these processes now in the experimental stages unlock some of oil shale’s enormous potential?

With exploration underway in almost every country in the continent, Africa is playing an important part in the exploitation of the world’s gas resources. Successful commercialisation of smaller fields, however, still presents challenges.

The new assessment carried out by USGS indicates that northeastern Greenland may be a very important future petroleum province. If the mean estimate of 31 BBoE were discovered and proven, this huge basin would rank 19th out of the world’s 500 known petroleum provinces.

Geothermal energy is a clean, readily available, and renewable natural resource. Yet the near limitless potential remains largely untapped accounting for only a very small percentage of the total amount of energy we use today.

Large deposits of oil and gas await development and discovery above the Arctic Circle. The harsh environment and remoteness of the region will challenge both the technology and economics to exploit these resources.

As the oil price rises and technology develops, interest in alternative forms of hydrocarbons such as ‘heavy’ oil has increased.