Pre-Cambrian to Paleozoic Petroleum Systems of the Arabian Plate

The Precambrium to Palaeozoic covers nearly 4 billion years of Earth’s history. In this period, the Earth evolved from a ball of condensed gas into a blue planet with oceans, mountains, and life quite similar to the planet we live on today. From the Late Precambrium to the Late Palaeozoic (the period covered by this book), the earth experienced episodes of mass extinction, glaciations, and extreme climate change. It is the period in which life truly established itself on the planet and started to become an important factor in the geological processes shaping our earth. The large variations in climate and environment of the Arabian plate during the Late Precambrium to the Palaeozoic left its imprint on the geology of this part of the world. From the Silurian Qusaiba hotshales in Saudi Arabia to the Permo-carboniferous glacigenic Al-Khlata formation of Oman, the palaeozoic of the Arabian plate encompasses a diverse geology and hence a wide variety in hydrocarbon play concepts. Wherein certain Arabian Gulf countries the Precambrium-Palaeozoic strata already contribute significantly to the production of hydrocarbons, and in other Gulf countries this is still a frontier area for exploration. Hence, in 2018 a workshop was organized in Oman on the topic of Precambrian to Palaeozoic hydrocarbon geology of the Arabian plate. This workshop brought together numerous experts on this topic. The idea behind the workshop was that it is essential to share cross-border knowledge to further establish successful future exploration campaigns in the region. This book focusses on the Late Precambrium to the Palaeozoic and contains a selection of papers that were presented during this workshop and cover a wide range of topics in the field of Precambrium-Palaeozoic exploration geology of the Arabian plate. The four chapters cover topics in the field of structural geology, sedimentology, (tectono-) stratigraphy, and unconventional targets. It provides a good overview of current developments in Precambrium-Palaeozoic geology of the Arabian plate.