This continental collision gave rise to the Zagros orogen and its Cenozoic foreland basin, which was superimposed on the Paleozoic-Mesozoic Tethys shelf basin. (Global measurements of relative plate motions of Arabia with respect to Eurasia show higher velocities of 2.4-3.5 cm per year). The Arabian continental plate, which collided with the Asian plate along the Bitlis-Zagros suture during the Eocene, is still converging with Asia at a rate of 1.9 to 2.3 cm per year based on GPS measurements. The tectonic framework of the Middle East is divided into (1) Zagros fold-and-thrust belt, (2) Unstable Arabian shelf, and (3) Stable Arabian shelf. These ten countries together have an area of 5.1 million square kilometres, or about 3.4% of the Earth’s land surface, but they possess according to BP’s 2012 Statistical Review of World Energy, 48% of world’s known oil reserves and 38% of natural gas reserves.įrom time to time, regions such as the Caspian or West Africa have been fantasised as ‘another Middle East’ but none has materialised, which begs this important question: why is there so much oil in the Middle East? This article synthesises our knowledge about this question and briefly describes the geological factors for the abundance of oil in the Middle East. Other definitions also add North Africa or central Asia.įor the purpose of this article, the term ‘Middle East’ focuses on the oil-rich countries in south-west Asia including Iran, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, and Yemen. Some define it as the region between India and Egypt, in which case it has been aptly designated by the United Nations as Western Asia.
Second, there is no consensus on the geographical extent of the Middle East. First, it has colonial connotations, as the phrase first appeared in the mid-nineteenth century as part of the Europe-centred division of the East into the Near, Middle and Far East. Despite decades of exploration worldwide, we have not found ‘another Middle East.’ Source: Rasoul Sorkhabi The term ‘Middle East’ is not without problems. Ten countries in the Middle East account for only 3.4% of the area but contain 48% of world’s known oil reserves and 38% of natural gas reserves.
Part Two - How Much Oil in the Middle East?
A WORLD FOR TWO WITH YOU IN THE MIDDLE SERIES
Part One of a two part series by author Rasoul Sorkhabi, focussing on oil and gas in the Middle East.
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