Why is the middle east so oil rich?

[SomptingGuy]

Not being a geologist, I often wonder why this part of the world is so rich in oil deposits. Where was the middle east (in relation to the rest of the tectonic plates) when the flora/fauna that is now oil were living?

- Steve

 

[VEBill]

There's more oil in Canadian Tar Sands than in the Middle East. It's just more difficult to extract.

 

[MikeyP]

Something to do with ease of access. The oil is deposited in anticline traps close to the surface. Each trap only has a small amount of oil, but you don't need much effort or technology to get to it.

This book

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Earth-Intimate-History-Richard-Fortey/dp/0006551378

is an excellent introduction to geology for the science educated layman - not too dumbed down - perfect pop science. I can recommend his other books too "Trilobite!" (read it alongside S J Gould's flawed but beautiful "Wonderful life") and "Dry store room No.1".

M

--
Dr Michael F Platten

 

[SomptingGuy]

Sounds like my next book. I've nearly finished Tuxedo Park (a recommendation from another E-T member).

- Steve

 

[IRstuff]

Ultimately, it's just luck of the draw, isn't it? The same question might be applied to why diamonds are more prevalent in certain countries than others. Or why the US has 6 times the shale oil reserves of any other country.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[zdas04]

Or why China has 43% of the world's Antimony reserves. Saudi has 19% of world's oil reserves (see Wiki) which is smaller than Venezuela currently claims to have.

David

 

[IRstuff]

Sure, but note that Saudis are refining at >3x the rate the Venezuelans are.

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[BigInch]

Keep your eye on the lower right area of the globe. It was at the junction of where most of the wash water ran from large plots of both Asia and Africa which got more concentrated as those two continents pinched together. Algeria and Libya appear to have received the same treatment from the African and European plates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HBAwzF9uMk

Let your acquaintances be many, but your advisors one in a thousand’ ... Book of Ecclesiasticus

 

[zdas04]

IR,
Yeah, everything I read about Venezuela's recent reserves change says "claimed" reserves, like no one actually believes that Chavez' new number means anything.


BigInch,
I'm having trouble getting my head around "lower right" of a spinning globe. Are you talking about Madagascar or New Zealand?

David

 

[BigInch]

Nobody's proven oil reserve numbers mean anything, especially the Saudi's, or if it costs $500/bbl to extract it.

OK Dave, Go to the end of the movie. See where the Mideast is now. Move the slider from right to left.

Let your acquaintances be many, but your advisors one in a thousand’ ... Book of Ecclesiasticus

 

[zdas04]

Oddly enough I even knew where Libya and Algeria were, my head is rejecting somewhere that close to the prime meridian and the equator being "lower right".

And yeah, oil reserves numbers only mean something in retrospect (i.e, when it is all gone you can add up how much you sold and call it "Original Reserves"). I've signed off on reserves change forms and the most important part of the analysis was the geophysist's Ouija Board. Fuzziest work I ever did in my life and that was for a field where I had a material balance that I kind of beleived in.

David

 

[BigInch]

You can also try to find the NW USA & SW Canada area. It was in the middle of a number of (shallow) plates as well, most of which later surface water wound up draining into the GOM, but obviously a lot got trapped in the sedimentry shales left over when the area lifted and dried up. North central Russia, again large continental sized drainage area pinched between some plates. West Africa, no plates, but still the sump of a continental sized drainage area. Brazil offshore, much the same drainage from former Amazon river basins. Venezuela, same, but from the northern South American drainage area east of the Andes, today's Orinoco. The eastern Mideast, maybe the general sump from the area drained by both the Tigres and the Nile / Rift valleys.

Don't get me started with the geologists. "Geologist" the closest thing any scientist is allowed to get to being called an optimist.... or a witch doctor. I can't tell you how many times I had to see a predicted 100 MMSCFD for the next 5 years turn into 25 MMSCFD for the next 30 days, then 25,000 SCFD thereafter. But with those kind of prognostications, they sure are popular around the first of the year.

Let your acquaintances be many, but your advisors one in a thousand’ ... Book of Ecclesiasticus

 

[BigInch]

zdas, Don't forget to look at the other movies there.

This one shouldn't be using a Mercator projection, but it also shows that we should be buying property off of NYC 500MM years into the future. Southern Indian Ocean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYbTNFN3NBo&feature=related

Let your acquaintances be many, but your advisors one in a thousand’ ... Book of Ecclesiasticus

 

[dpc]

Don't forget that new oil exporter --- North Dakota.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?sid=ayj1uo_gdNI4&pid=newsarchive

David Castor

http://www.cvoes.com

 

[BigInch]

Remains to be seen. It seems that they are not sure it can be produced at all. Remember, the other side of the coin is that Mideast oil only costs $10/BBL to produce.

Let your acquaintances be many, but your advisors one in a thousand’ ... Book of Ecclesiasticus

 

[VEBill]

...Mideast oil only costs $10/BBL to produce...

Not including the trillions spent on wars (and "police actions") in that region. It's a fair assumption that if that region lacked oil, then the world would be less likely to get involved in local "squirmishes".

 

[IRstuff]

Interesting, I would have used skirmishes...

TTFN

FAQ731-376
Chinese prisoner wins Nobel Peace Prize

 

[VEBill]

I'm quoting someone...

http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/sarah-palin-wonders-aloud-if-libya-squirmis

 

[btrueblood]

http://www.bobrivers.com/#v11592

 

[zdas04]

and gun enthusiasts, and conservatives, and humans.

David