Hello @faded_Glory!
I too have been working in the geosciences (including the O&G industry) for over 40 years and am still trying to retire (but they still pay me).
As you clearly said, we need to generate a comprehensive model of our study area, including structure, stratigraphy, and thermal history before we even begin to identify any potential targets for further research, such as costly 3D seismic shoots, etc.
We have to sell our conclusions to a very hard-headed, bottom line driven budget committee. Expect to be cross-examined far worse than any academic dissertation. If the project goes to a regulatory body for permitting, expect to be grilled under oath by the regulators, other companies, and the public.
In many cases our targets are several miles deep, but being off in location by less than a mile can lead to expensive failure. If you are trying to hit a specific reef debris fan from the forefront of a Wolfcampian reef, neither guesses nor prayers will help. And oh, don’t fail to interpret the faults correctly, or your reservior my be a leaker.
I have joined and/led many exporation teams, and intellectual honesty is rule number one. We demand that each other give their most honest and professional efforts, and to immediately point out any potential flaws in our models, be you the VP of E&P, or the most junior tech.
Sure, anyone with the $ can buy a lease in a mature field and have a good chance of a good well in an arbitrary spot, but remenber, that spot is hitchhiking on millions of dollars of exploration and development work built by dozens of real scientists before you.
Many of the honest, hard-working people that I work with in the O&G field are believers of many religions, but from from PhD’s to roustabouts, all of them accept the realities of earth sciences, engineering, and cold hard economics.
How many YEC oil companies are there, and which ones can shows us their balance sheets?