Gateway to huge offshore oil reserves, Rio de Janeiro and southeast Brazil offers stunning scenery and geologic evidence of ancient mountains and the forces that spawned two continents.

It's too bad. But it's happening. Partly because of a massive marketing campaign instigated by a multitude of environmental organisations (the "green mafia"), endorsed by several governmental bodies around the world, biofuels are taking an ever larger share of the huge energy market.

Ocean bottom seismic (OBS) produces superior seismic images compared to those from conventional 3D streamer seismic. OBS acquisition offers the prospect of full illumination and high multiplicity of signals from the same subsurface points (high data fold).

By assembling an experienced staff and coordinating affiliates, in just four years, Marcio Mello has built a service company that has no boundaries. Along with his Vice-President, Nilo Azambuja, they are ready to tackle some of the industry's toughest problems in the search for new oil and gas deposits.

The first offshore well was drilled in shallow water in 1968. For the next 30 years, Petrobras has been challenging ocean depths with the innovation and technology that has brought the oil and gas industry into the ultra-deepwater era.

Dr. Leo Roodhart, the 2009 President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), hopes to enthuse a younger generation of oil industry experts by encouraging membership and active participation in the society throughout the world.

Interest in the West African country has increased with the success of a recent appraisal well. It suggests that the Jubilee field may contain over one billion barrels of oil.

StatoilHydro has grown into a major player in Angola. With more than 200,000 barrels of oil produced every single day, and having assisted Sonangol to become an operator, the time is now right to take the next step. With strong support from the head office back in Norway, StatoilHydro is ready to take on operatorship in Angola.

Complex and unconventional reservoirs provide important reserves to the world's energy supply however, they are often challenging to produce. Systematic petrographic studies take a close look at these reservoirs yielding improved characterization and quality prediction; a crucial breakthrough that will guide future exploration and production

Mali is the largest country in West Africa and yet is one of the least known to the hydrocarbon industry, with a total of only five exploration wells. It is also one of the poorest countries in the world. With interest increasing in neighbouring Mauretania and Algeria, is Mali about to move into the hydrocarbon limelight?

Afren is a young oil and gas exploration business with ambitious plans: to become the premier pan-African independent oil and gas exploration and production company.

As Nigeria is overtaken by Angola as Africa's largest oil producer, is it true that the discovery of oil 50 years ago has been more a curse than a blessing? And what can the oil industry do to help?

The sub-salt discoveries recently reported in the Santos basin, offshore Rio de Janeiro, Brazil could be the largest in over 30 years and has captured the world's attention.

The need to maximise recovery has spelt success for a seismic technique which hugely increases reservoir knowledge.

Natural fractures in rocks cause drilling mud losses and wellbore stability problems. A recently developed "double porosity model" can make drilling safer and less expensive.

Rifting caused the breakup of Western Gondwana into two separate continents and is responsible for the key elements of a mega petroleum system that is now being fully exploited.