A primary task for a petroleum rock physicist is to link geological and geophysical interpretation practices and culture in such a way that they can be understood and applied in exploration and production of oil and gas. Specifically, this task asks for relations between key properties of the fluid-saturated rocks located in situ and quantities extracted from seismic and electromagnetic data. In spite of the hard work needed to establish a proper characterization of such relations, they are of limited if not insignificant value in exploration (out of the well location) if not adapted to key elements of geological processes and obtainable seismic and electromagnetic properties.

The most robust evidence indicating that petroleum migrates in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is the presence of oil slicks at the surface of the sea coming from naturally sourced oil at the sea bottom. The mechanisms for oil migration in the GoM involve the interplay of several variables (including faults, pressure, salt diapirism, etc.) These are not fully understood locally, let alone regionally, and are not well constrained to basin evolution. The use of numerical models helps to represent and visualize oil migration from the source to the traps and or seeps but it is limited by the lack of a complete geological picture. However, despite these limitations, numerical models are an important means of estimating the timing of oil migration. Salt movement through time has a huge influence on the patterns of oil migration and re-migration. The underlying geometries of Allochthonous Salt can help focus oil to an up dip trap or in turn result in the breaching of a trap. Subsequent salt withdrawal may result in a weld which may or may not longer seal the hydrocarbons in place. The characterization of successful plays in the GoM involves understanding seeps, oil fluxes, surface anomalies or hard crusts, along with plausible migration pathways of leakage and remigration of oil as related to salt tectonics. These elements are some of the building blocks to high-grade prospective areas for oil exploration. Introduction The first and most obvious observation is the presence of natural seepage occurring at the surface like sea-bottom pock marks and oil slicks (Fig. 1) The MacDonald Image Laboratory of Florida State University posted a video on the web (http://www.sarsea.org/natural_seapage/gallery.html) where it is possible to fully appreciate the most important characteristics of oil seepage: spatial variability of the point of origin, presence of carbonate hard crust, and domes and pock-marks. Secondly, the identification of possible migration pathways relies on seismic data. By looking at deep seismic reflection data we can interpret mechanisms likely influencing petroleum movement from the source rock to the intermediate traps, and eventually into seeps. Interpreted faults and fractures seem to be the main conduits for oil migration. The examples in this work show the dominant impact of salt movement on the migration. This salt was originally deposited over 160 mya. and has had a complex history of movement in resulting diapirs and salt canopies. Therefore, improving the combined knowledge of halokinesis, oil geochemistry and structural evolution of the basin it is possible to have a better picture of the migrating oil into traps, intermediate reservoirs and ultimately seeps.

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The 34th GCSSEPM Foundation Bob F. Perkins Research Conference on Petroleum Systems in "Rift" Basins grew out of a joint effort by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to bring together knowledgeable geologists, geophysicists, and resource managers from federal and state agencies at a series of workshops to examine the oil and natural gas resource potential of the Mesozoic synrift basins in the Atlantic coastal states and the adjacent offshore areas. These workshops were convened in preparation for a proposed Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) lease sale scheduled for 2011 in the Mid-Atlantic planning area, focused on the OCS area offshore Virginia that was announced as part of the BOEM 2007-2012 Five-Year Leasing Plan in February, 2006 (BOEM, 2006. The area of the draft proposed program initially included the previously identified Norfolk Mesozoic rift basin, which was later removed at the request of the governor of Virginia to create a 50-mile shore buffer from future exploration activities (BOEM, 2008(BOEM, , 2010.The Atlantic OCS planning areas have not been the focus of seismic acquisition since 1988, or drilling since 1984 (BOEM, 2012). Consequently, at the time of the announcement in 2006, very few of the federal or state geoscientists and resource managers working the onshore, adjacent state waters, or Atlantic OCS had personal experience in the processes necessary to address the scientific requirements for successful oil and gas exploration in these frontier areas. In addition, in the 24 years since the last US Atlantic OCS drilling, new exploration activity in the offshore Atlantic margin basins of Africa and South America had resulted in amazingly prolific oil and gas discoveriespotential analogs that were factored into new Atlantic OCS petroleum resource assessments (Post et al., 2012; BOEM, 2012 BOEM, , 2014.Consequently, beginning in 2008, the USGS sponsored three regional workshops to review the known geological concepts and available data of the sedimentary basins in the Atlantic coastal states and adjacent offshore areas. The first two workshops (May, 2008 and March, 2009) were hosted by the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals, and Energy at their offices in Charlottesville, VA, and addressed the energy resource potential of the Mid-Atlantic (NC, VA, MD, and DE) and South Atlantic (VA, NC, SC, and FL), respectively (Lassetter, 2009). The third workshop (October, 2010) was hosted by the New Jersey Geological Survey at their offices in Trenton, NJ, and addressed the energy resource potential of the North Atlantic area (DE, PA, NJ, CT, MA, and ME). The USGS used the results from these meetings and the contacts established to begin its oil and natural gas resource assessment of the Mesozoic synrift basins of the Atlantic coastal states and state waters completed in late 2011 (Milici et al., 2012; Coleman et al., 2015, this volume).