Not-so-hot volcanic rocks in Saudi Arabia
This in what a team of researchers concluded in a paper published in the journal Geothermics this year. It must have been a bit of a surprise to find very…
Middle East
Oil in porous intrusive rocks
Basement plays are found in quite a few areas globally and have been well studied and reported on. Norway, Yemen, Vietnam and China are amongst those places where oil is…
A major and not-on-trend discovery in Kuwait
Kuwait is not the first country one would associate with places ramping up efforts to discover more oil. At the end of the day, the small Gulf country is home…
United Arab Emirates – unlocking the new sources of oil and gas
Eni, RakGas and SNOC have started drilling their first exploration well Fennec 1 on Onshore Block 7, Ras al Khaimah, a key project in the UAE’s energy sector. This well…
Not one, but seven new discoveries announced in Saudi Arabia
Just a couple of days ago, Reuters published a short article stating that Saudi Arabia’s energy minister announced the discovery of seven oil and gas accumulations in the country. As…
In the heart of the global economy
The Aramco compound – where most of the work is done to keep the Saudi oil machine turning – is still situated in the exact same area where the story…
Oil – and increasingly gas – on steroids
“We went from two to nineteen mudlogging units recently”, said a representative from Geolog at the IPTC Conference in Saudi Arabia this week. “It is obvious that things are picking…
A tent and a rig
Looking out of the plane window when approaching Dammam, Saudi Arabia’s oil capital, the darkness of the desert is interrupted by star-shaped lights in places. I wondered what they were…
Are outcrops the key to unlock the CCUS potential in the Middle East?
The Middle East region is under the spotlight of the carbon-neutral worldwide ambition. COP28 was a testimony of the effort put by the regional energy powerhouses. What if the success…
Oil in the Dammam field overburden – lateral migration or an imperfect seal?
Next week, I’ll be attending the IPTC Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. It made me look at the local geology of the area, only then to realise that Dammam is…
Ghawar keeps on going
In November last year, Aramco announced that it produced its first unconventional tight gas from the Ghawar South project, producing up to 300 mmscf/day of gas and 38 kbpd of…
Bid rounds in the Middle East and South Asia – the shop front is still open
As June is drawing to a close, the Middle East and South Asia region have a number of licensing rounds open, with three more offshore rounds anticipated during the year.…