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How much oil and gas is still waiting to be found beneath the central Arabian Peninsula? Using a geology-based method, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the undiscovered, technically recoverable conventional resources — oil and gas that could be produced with current technology from fields not yet discovered.
The assessment units, which span parts of Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Credit: U.S. Geological Survey.
The results
| Resource | Mean estimate | Range (F95 to F5) |
|---|---|---|
| Oil | 13.3 billion barrels (13,264 million) | 5,057 to 28,911 million barrels |
| Natural gas | 111 trillion cubic feet (110,983 billion) | 30,225 to 276,998 billion cubic feet |
| Natural gas liquids | 3.8 billion barrels (3,806 million) | 1,080 to 9,284 million barrels |
F95 means a 95% chance of at least that amount; F5, a 5% chance.
How the region's oil formed
The Arabian Peninsula's geology reflects a long tectonic history beginning in the Neoproterozoic: repeated deformation, faulting and stretching built its structural foundation, and later mountain-building, passive-margin development and the opening and closing of ancient seas laid down the source and reservoir rocks and formed the structures that hold most of its oil and gas.
USGS defined a single Neoproterozoic–Mesozoic Composite Total Petroleum System, with several possible source rocks:
| Source rock | Role |
|---|---|
| Neoproterozoic rift-related mudstones | If present, in the Hormuz and northwestern Persian Gulf salt basins and possibly the Dibdibah Trough |
| Silurian Qusaiba Formation marine shales | Widespread; the source of most of the gas |
| Permian Khuff Formation shales | A source; its anhydrite also seals reservoirs |
| Jurassic Tuwaiq Mountain, Hanifa and Dibya Formations; Cretaceous Shu'aiba Formation | Prolific and widespread; Jurassic and Cretaceous marine source rocks, especially the Hanifa, generated most of the oil. The thickest organic-rich mudstones lie in Jurassic intrashelf basins in the east |
Seals include Neoproterozoic salt, Khuff anhydrite, shale of the Triassic Sudair Formation, anhydrite of the Jurassic Hith Formation, and Cretaceous shale. Broad folds formed by Neogene compression over reactivated basement structures trap most of the region's oil and gas.
Eleven assessment units
The assessment divided the region into 11 units, grouped by their geology:
- Salt basins — East Rub al Khali Salt Basin (Mesozoic, and Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic, reservoirs) and Northwest Arabian Gulf Salt Structures: oil and gas in intrasalt carbonates, silicilites, reefs, dolomites, karst and debris flows, in structural and stratigraphic traps.
- Reactivated basement structures — East Rub al Khali Basin Mesozoic Structures, Main Rub al Khali Basin, Central Arabian Platform, Summan Platform and Northwest Arabian Gulf Basement Structures: reservoirs in nonmarine sandstones of the Permian Unayzah Formation and platform-margin carbonates.
- Qatar Arch — Silurian gas mainly in Khuff Formation carbonates.
- Dibdibah Trough — oil and gas in Permian through Cretaceous carbonates and sandstones, mostly in stratigraphic traps.
- Jafurah Subbasin — oil and gas mainly from Jurassic source rocks in carbonate reservoirs of the Tuwaiq Mountain, Hanifa, Araej, Jubaila and Arab Formations, largely within the intrashelf Arabian Basin.
Largest mean estimates by unit:
| Assessment unit | Oil in oil fields (million barrels) | Gas in gas fields (billion cubic feet) |
|---|---|---|
| Jafurah Subbasin Mesozoic Structures | 3,961 | 15,146 |
| Dibdibah Trough Reservoirs | 3,135 | 3,284 |
| Northwest Arabian Gulf Basement Structures | 1,473 | 10,332 |
| Main Rub al Khali Basin Reservoirs | 330 | 27,617 |
| East Rub al Khali Salt Basin Neoproterozoic–Paleozoic Reservoirs | 0 | 11,995 |
Full results for every unit are available from the USGS Energy Resources Program.
Sources
Based on Schenk CJ, Mercier TJ, Le PA, et al., "Assessment of Undiscovered Conventional Oil and Gas Resources in the Central Arabian Peninsula, 2026," USGS Fact Sheet 2026–3025, U.S. Geological Survey; a work of the United States government in the public domain. Full text.
Licens: CC0 1.0 (allmän egendom) · Bearbetat efter pubs.usgs.gov
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