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Field studies over a range of scales have been important in the upstream oil and gas industry for decades.
Advances in digital outcrop characterization and data capture, coupled with increased computational
capabilities, have resulted in a resurgence in fieldwork; these field studies are required to develop deposi-
tional, stratigraphic and structural concepts and provide the data which underpin the current generation
of complex, computer generated, 3D subsurface models. These models provide an informed means of
benchmarking the subsurface along with a more considered view of subsurface uncertainty and manage-
ment of the risks identified. The papers in this volume cover safety in the field, frontier basin petroleum
system assessment, field appraisal and development including unconventional resources, applications of
techniques such as LiDAR and 3D photogrammetry, and uncertainty characterization. The studies were
undertaken in diverse locations such as the Faroe Islands, Italy, Algeria, India, the USA and Trinidad;
they represent a range of tectonic settings and a wide geological time frame. The spectrum of papers is testa-
ment to the value and integral position that fieldwork occupies within the modern hydrocarbon industry.