discovery and development of fields in the prolific basins of the North Sea retained both the technical focus and, more importantly, the budget funds of major operators. Consequently, the history of exploration in western areas, and particularly in the East Irish Sea Basin, is one of alternating feasts and famines. In this context, the period of 1990 to1995 represents a major feast, the second such feast in the exploration history of the region. More importantly, a veritable feast both in the volume of hydrocarbons discovered and the apparent advancement of geological understanding. The initial leap forward, made during the mid 1970's in the East Irish Sea Basin, is, however, likely to remain the volumetrically most important. Current workers in these basins owe a great debt to the early pioneers who carried out the initial exploration and simultaneously had to break the mould of traditional North Sea thinking. Ultimately it was the discovery of the giant Morecambe Field in 1974 which proved the value of exploration in the west but the full potential of the area has, we believe, yet to be realised. Witness the efforts of the early 1990's which overturned the 'one field gas basin' paradigm and transformed the East Irish Sea Basin into a mature oil and gas province. This gave impetus to exploration, drew attention to the geological complexity and, in so doing, added more than a dozen fields to the maps of the area including the oil fields of Douglas and Lennox. This book provides a snap-shot of current understanding on the petroleum geology of the East Irish Sea and adjacent areas.We hope that it will prove a platform for further exploration in basins west of Britain. Also available: Petroleum Exploration of Ireland's Offshore Basins - ISBN 1862390878 Key Issues in Petroleum Geology - Stratigraphy (Key Issues in Earth Sciences) - ISBN 1862392374 The Geological Society of LondonFounded in 1807, the Geological Society of London is the oldest geological society in the world, and one of the largest publishers in the Earth sciences.The Society publishes a wide range of high-quality peer-reviewed titles for academics and professionals working in the geosciences, and enjoys an enviable international reputation for the quality of its work.The many areas in which we publish in include:-Petroleum geology-Tectonics, structural geology and geodynamics-Stratigraphy, sedimentology and paleontology-Volcanology, magmatic studies and geochemistry-Remote sensing-History of geology-Regional geology guides

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