And with space battles, phaser combat, and general exploration, it seems to have the ingredients of a good action-adventure game.

FORBES: Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down

Jan Willem Eggink, Shell's South Africa general manager for exploration, says the company needs to explore to determine how it could extract gas from the region.

WSJ: South Africa Faces Power Shortage Despite Gas Reserves

And he was a very important contributor to the early Mars missions and to the general interest in planetary exploration.

NPR: Revisiting the Viking Missions to Mars

Meanwhile, he said, labor shortages are among the key issues facing gold-exploration companies in general.

FORBES: McEwen: Minera-US Gold Proposal Proceeding; Labor For A Challenge For Exploration Companies

The Director-General of UNESCO reiterated the position of the World Heritage Committee regarding questions of oil exploration and development at World Heritage sites.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

In general, says Fadel Gheit, of Oppenheimer, an investment bank, smaller, specialist exploration companies tend to find more oil relative to their size than big integrated firms.

ECONOMIST: Oil companies: Improving their fieldcraft | The