Book excerpt: "This book is the outcome of a two-day short course held annually in London, and is based on the manual distributed to the participants. The book falls into three broad sections. The first is a summary of the history of exploration in the North Sea, followed by a review of the structural framework and pre-Permian development of the region. The second section is a series of descriptions in stratigraphical order, of the depositional history and hydrocarbon-related rock units from the Permian to the Tertiary. The last section brings the material together with a discussion of the various exploration plays - why the oil and gas is where it is, what of the future?" --