ABSTRACT: The History of Oil and Gas Exploration in the Sultanate of Oman

DE RUITER, PIETER A. C., Petroleum Development Oman LLC, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Oil exploration in Oman began in the 1950s with the drilling of surface structures. These early wells yielded only heavy oils in the south, considered uneconomic at the time. The introduction of reflection seismic during the 1960s led to the discovery of four giant oil fields, one of which also contained a large volume of nonassociated gas, in the north of the country. Reserves were located in Cretaceous carbonates, a classical reservoir in the Middle East. The 1970s saw the development of an upper Paleozoic clastic reservoir play, south of the Cretaceous fields. During the 1980s exploration in central and southern Oman resulted in major oil finds in upper and lower Paleozoic clastics and in Precambrian dolomites. Each play appears to go through a classical creaming process, with rapi ly decreasing returns per dollar spent. These creaming curves seem to reflect the natural distribution of oil field sizes. Given the varied nature of trapping mechanisms, the great spread of reservoir-seal pairs throughout the stratigraphic column, the apparent abundance of Precambrian source rocks, and the ever-improving seismic techniques, it is likely that successful new plays will continue to emerge through the present decade and beyond.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91012©1992 AAPG Annual Meeting, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 22-25, 1992 (2009)