Love them or loathe them, oil and gas are vital to the world economy, and predicted to stay that way for the next 20-30 years. Unless you're in the hydrocarbons industry, though, you're unlikely to know much about the remarkable technology it uses. First we'll look at the history and current state of the industry, the different types of hydrocarbon, and how they're generated and trapped in the Earth. Then we'll move on to exploration and production - how hydrocarbons are located, then accessed by drilling, evaluated, produced and .... well, the technical term is stimulation but you might know it as fracking - we'll devote a session to this controversial topic. Finally, we'll examine how the industry tidies up after itself (or not), and its impact on the environment. These lectures and discussions will focus on technology, but no previous technical background is needed.