page_title: Rub' al Khali Basin
section_title: Petroleum geology
hierarchical_section_title: Rub' al Khali Basin / Petroleum geology
caption_attribution_description: English: Total petroleum system events chart for Central Arabia (USGS.gov)
context_page_description: The Rub' al Khali Basin or ar-Rubʻ al-Khālī / ar-rubʿ al-ḵālī Basin, Arabic for "Empty Quarter Basin", is a major endorheic sedimentary basin of approximately 560,000 square kilometres in southern Saudi Arabia, northeastern Yemen, southeastern Oman and southeasternmost United Arab Emirates. The onshore foreland on Mesozoic rift basin is geographically defined by the eponymous Rub' al Khali and covers the regions of Najran and Riyadh and the Eastern Province. The basin is geologically bound by the Central Arabian Arch in the north, the Oman Thrust in the east, the Northern Hadramaut Arch in the south and the Arabian Shield in the west. Politically, the southwestern boundary is formed by the border with Yemen and the border with Oman forms the southeastern boundary.
  The stratigraphy of the basin ranges from Proterozoic to recent and comprises various cycles of clastic and carbonate sediments separated by regional unconformities. The stratigraphic column contains various levels of source rock formations, and reservoirs and seals are common in the late Paleozoic and Mesozoic succession. Traps are formed by the compression of the Oman Thrust in the east.
context_section_description: Petroleum exploration in Saudi Arabia commenced in 1937 with the acquisition of seismic surveys, continuing until the end of the 20th century. This has resulted in almost complete coverage of the main producing areas. One of the most successful methods used is the long-range refraction profile using the Hith anhydrite as the refractor.
  The Rub' al Khali Basin comprises various petroleum systems, defined as Total Petroleum Systems (TPS) by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), from most to least extensive in the basin:
  Silurian Qusaiba (201903)
  Cretaceous Thamama/Wasia (201901)
  Jurassic Hanifa/Diyab-Arab (201902)
  Arabian Sub-Basin Tuwaiq/Hanifa-Arab (202102)
  Central Arabia Qusaiba-Paleozoic (202101)
  North Oman Huqf-Shu'aiba (201601)
  North Oman Huqf/'Q'-Haushi (201401)
  Middle Cretaceous Natih (201602)
  The North Oman Huqf/'Q'-Haushi TPS extends diagonally across the central portion of the Makaram-Mabrouk high portion of the Central Oman Platform, into the Ghaba Salt Basin.
  The main total petroleum system of the basin centers around the Ordovician to Silurian Qusaiba Formation as source rock, charging the Permian Khuff Formation, with minor reservoirs the Silurian Tawil, Devonian Jubah and Carboniferous Unayzah Formations, all sealed by overlying shaly and evaporite levels, with as main regional seal the evaporites of the Khuff. Structural traps are formed by the compression from the east during the Late Cretaceous and Paleogene to Neogene. The critical moment for oil has been estimated to the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary and for gas during the Late Cretaceous.
caption: Petroleum systems events chart for central Arabia
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