Neoproterozoic And Paleozoic Glaciations On The Arabian Plate And Their Impacts On The Hydrocarbon Accumulations

At least four major glaciations occurred, and were fully documented from the Arabian Plate of the Gondwana Land over the last billion years. They include two Neoproterozoic (Cryogenian) events and Late Ordovician (Hirnantian) and Permo-Carboniferous events. As the deep gas explorations have been extended into these older successions the relationship between glaciation and hydrocarbon accumulations are better understood. The author of this presentation was actively involved in the exploration and the development stages of the Late Ordovician and Permo-Carboniferous glaciogenic sandstone reservoirs of Saudi Arabia. He has carried out intensive field work to understand the sedimentology, lithofacies stacking pattern, and reservoir quality of different segments of the deep and long glacial paleovalleys to interpret their reservoir quality in the prospective areas (Senalp and Al Laboun, 2000; Senalp and Al-Duaiji, 2001; and Senalp 2006).