Years of Arabian Peninsula gravity exploration by Chevron and its legacy companies, including discovery of the Ghawar and Burgan super-giants

• Published in: Leading edge (Tulsa, Okla.) Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 279 - 283
• Main Author: Pawlowski, Robert
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Society of Exploration Geophysicists 01-04-2020
• Subjects: applied (geophysical surveys & methods); Arabian Peninsula; Asia; Burgan Field; Economic geology; energy sources; geophysical methods; geophysical surveys; Geophysics; Ghawar Field; giant fields; gravity methods; Kuwait; oil and gas fields; petroleum; petroleum exploration; Saudi Arabia; surveys
• ISSN: 1070-485X; 1938-3789
• DOI: 10.1190/tle39040279.1

Exploration of the eastern Arabian Platform in the 1930s and 1940s by Chevron and its legacy company Gulf Oil resulted in discovery of Kuwait's super-giant Burgan Field by Gulf Oil in 1938 and Saudi Arabia's super-giant Ghawar Field by California Arabian Standard Oil Company in 1948. Ghawar Field and Burgan Field are widely regarded as the first- and second-largest oil fields in the world, respectively. Gravity methods featured prominently in Gulf's and Chevron's subsurface explorations. Gravity mapping identified the Burgan structure and was important in delineating the Ghawar structural complex. Gravimetric technology continues to provide value for deep exploration in Chevron's Partitioned Zone concession in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.