How geology is helping Middle East oil and gas explorations – The National

How geology is helping Middle East oil and gas explorations – The National

How geology is helping Middle East oil and gas explorations. Study of ancient rock structures is vital for the success of ongoing oil and gas exploration, like the recent discovery of a well in a gas field in Sharjah. The ophiolite in Oman and the northern UAE is the best preserved and exposed in the world.. The geological folds around Jebel Buhais are also found in the subsurface, where they form traps for oil and gas.. The Jebel Buhais geological display also features a wide range of fossils from the limestone rocks that overlie the ophiolite.. Geologists are now called on to apply this study of ancient climates to the near future.. The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels and forests is warming the Earth, risking returning to a climate hotter than modern humans have ever experienced.. Carbon dioxide can be put back into the ground instead of being released into the atmosphere.. With similar technologies to oil and gas production, this requires mapping suitable underground storage reservoirs with sealing rocks to prevent the carbon dioxide leaking out, and monitoring its flow through the subsurface.. Geoscientists Juerg Matter and Peter Kelemen from Columbia University have