Int he CentralNorthS ea, the Apto-Albianp layappears to be confined to patchyareasw ithint he MorayFirthb asins. Int hisarea, itisw idely believed reservoir-quality sandsw eresourced from localr esidual LateCimmerianhighs,withresultant limited distributions ofcommercialfairways. Localhydrocarbon modelling provest hatm ost hydrocarbons discovered to dateoccur withins tratigraphic traps,d iscovered largely by serendipity duringa ppraisalo folders tructurallydefined reservoirs. Re-appraisalo fJ urassic to Cretaceous tectonic models shows how tectonic trendswithinthe MorayFirthbasins areoptimized for discovery ofLower Cretaceous reserves. Thesemodels also suggest considerableupside potentialinu nder-explored areaso fthe VikingGrabenandCentralTrough, wherecomplexbasingeometriesandhalokinesisconspireto hide potential fairways. The search for Aptianreservesisseverely hampered byawidespread inability to see or interpretsand and/or hydrocarbon presence usingseismic dataa lone, resultingi navery high dependence on geological modellingto evaluatepotentialsweetspots withinwide fairwaytracts. Thisstyleofmodellinghasbeenreliant on a'Jurassic-upwards' technique, withlimited success. Recent re-modellingofthe entireN orth-West European area hasshown thatestablished models ofPaleocenesanddistribution canbe projected downwardstofindsweet spots inpotentialAptianfairways. Usingthisapproach hasresulted inanewplate-widetectono-sedimentological anddrainage pattern modelfor the Aptian,which suggests thatmost sandfairways,dominated bydeepmarine facies,weresourced from anactiveA tlantic MarginArch via northwest-southeast-oriented fluvialandshelfal feeders ystems. Application ofthism odelt oCentralandN orthern NorthS ea hydrocarbon fairways suggests a gross current underestimateofA ptians andvolumesandc onsiderableupside potentialbothwithint he Moray Firthbasins andunappraised exploration territory int he VikingGrabenandCentralTrough.

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