exploration in areas such as the Faroes. This is because modern exploration is heavily reliant on seismic information, which in turn is obtained by measuring echoes from artificial sound sources generated at the [...] size used for exploration. As a result, the equipment required for this type of survey is far from standard, and, from a practical point of view, much more difficult to handle. Notwithstanding the challenges [...] disturbed by loud music from noisy neighbours, you might like to think of BLAST, and how understanding why the music sounds the way it does is helping discover new oil fields. It is just another form of rock

in their own right can ever be realised, if that ever happens. However, it is far too early to know what the real potential is, though figures like 1 billion barrels of crude have been bandied about ? manna [...] exploration wells drilled, the success rate achieved in the first |Faroes campaign is smack on the global average. The trick now is to multiply that success several times over during the next two to three years [...] projects and guarantee the islands a place among the world?s oil and gas nations. Quite how this will be achieved is a question that will occupy many minds this winter as oil company geologists and others