Editorial Petroleum exploration and production research in the Middle East 1. A brief history of petroleum exploration and production The major oil-producing countries in the Middle East include Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. Geographical location of these countries in the Persian Gulf area is shown in Fig. 1. Proved oil reserves in the Middle East total 685 billion barrels which represents approximately 65% of proved oil reserves in the world (Oil and Gas Journal Data Book, 2002; BP Statistical Review of Energy, 2003). Daily production in 2002 for the Middle East stood at almost 21 million barrels, representing over 28% of global production. Saudi Arabia has the largest production capacity and produced 8.7 million bbl/day (mmstb/d) throughout 2002. Commercial production in the region began in 1908 with the discovery of commercial quantities of oil in Iran. This production was quickly followed by other discoveries, although production remained low as a fraction of world production for the first half of the last century. However, the discovery of very large oil fields in Kuwait (1937) and Saudi Arabia (1938) set the stage for substantial production enhancement as world demand grew in later years. By the early 1970s, the region accounted for a significant portion of world oil production. Many of the countries in the region have used the wealth created by oil to support infrastructure projects. This included the establishment of petroleum-related re- search universities in the region. Most of the production in the Middle Eastern countries is subject to production quotas set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). OPEC members in the Middle East include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran, Qatar and the UAE with a combined production of approximately 18 million barrels per day. National Oil Companies play an important role in the mapping of strategy and the production of petroleum. Saudi Arabia produced 8.6 million barrels per day (mmstb/d) in 2002, down from a peak of 9.4 mmstb/d in 1998. Saudi Aramco, the national com- pany for Saudi Arabia, has its roots in an explora- tion concession in the eastern part of the country which was formed in 1933 by a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California (now Chevron Texaco). Texaco acquired 50% of the company in 1936. Both Socony and Standard Oil of New Jersey (both now Exxon Mobil) acquired a share in the company in 1948. The Saudi Arabian government acquired a 25% share of Aramco in 1973; by 1980, the government share of the company stood at 100%. Saudi Aramco now operates all production and refining in Saudi Arabia and has marketing and refining interests in the Philippines, Greece and the United States. Production from Iran averaged 3.4 mmstb/d in 2002. The National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) was formed in 1951 to acquire and operate con- cessions in Iran from foreign companies [principally Anglo–Iranian (now BP), Shell, Total, Mobil and Standard Oil of New Jersey]. In 1953, a consortium of companies which formed the Iranian Oil Partic- ipants, ran the oil production in Iran. IOP continued until 1973 when NIOC regained control of oil exploration and production. Since the mid-1990s, NIOC has concluded a number of agreements with foreign oil companies to speed the development of Iran’s petroleum resources. In 2002, production from Iraq averaged 2.0 mmstb/ d under the control of Iraq Petroleum which has its roots in the Turkish Petroleum Company (TPC) which 0920-4105/$ - see front matter D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.petrol.2003.12.001 www.elsevier.com/locate/petrol Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering 42 (2004) 73 – 78