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Abstract

Ireland is virtually encircled by sedimentary basins which developed in response to periods of rifting and thermal subsidence. These offshore basins have been the focus of intermittent phases of exploration since drilling of the first well in 1970 and, to date, 136 wells have been drilled. Most of the drilling so far has concentrated on structural traps, but recent exploration has begun to focus on a variety of stratigraphic traps, with greater emphasis on results obtained from studies of the Atlantic margin basins. The Petroleum Exploration of Ireland's Offshore Basins contains a set of 27 papers on a wide range of topics relating to recent exploration of the Irish offshore sedimentary basins. These papers address aspects of the structural and stratigraphic evolution, thermal history, petroleum systems, reservoir geology and sea-bed processes in the Irish offshore area. Although the main focus is on petroleum systems and those issues bearing on exploration risk, the exploration effort has yielded fundamental new insight into the wider development of starved passive continental margins. The volume will be of interest to oil industry explorationists and researchers focusing on NW European sedimentary basins and the evolution of the Irish Atlantic margin.