Geology News
Middle East Current Events

USGS reports that a magnitude 7.8 earthquake occurred in Iran at about 3:14 local time. A BBC article reports on how the earthquake was felt in various parts of the Middle East.

Salt glaciers (also known as namakiers) are masses of salt that erupt onto Earth’s surface and flow downslope under their own weight.

They develop where salt domes rise high enough to reach the surface.

A large natural gas discovery off the coast of Israel is now delivering its first gas. This gives Israel enough gas for domestic use and an export policy dilemma.

“Saudi Arabia has almost one-fifth of the world’s proven oil reserves, and it is the largest producer and exporter of total petroleum liquids in the world. Saudi Arabia has the world’s fifth largest natural gas reserves, but natural gas production remains limited.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country report.

“A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites finds that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade.” Quoted from the NASA press release.

A New York Times article describes a recent cyberattack on Saudi Aramco, the Saudi state-owned oil company, that wiped the hard drives of tens of thousands of computers. It is said to be the most expensive cyberattack ever made against a company.

“The United Arab Emirates has the seventh-largest proved reserves of both crude oil and natural gas, and production of both resources is expected to increase in the coming years. New investments in nuclear and renewable energy technologies, when coupled with the expected gains in the hydrocarbon sector, will give the UAE one of the most diverse and significant energy portfolios in the Middle East.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration.

The United States Department of Energy has granted a state-run company from Qatar permission to export natural gas produced in the United States from an LNG terminal in Texas.

This interesting article reviews some of the world’s important chokepoints for the transport of crude oil.

From the article: “Chokepoints are narrow channels along widely used global sea routes, some so narrow that restrictions are placed on the size of the vessel that can navigate through them. They are a critical part of global energy security due to the high volume of oil traded through their narrow straits.”

“Oman possesses the largest oil reserves of any non-OPEC country in the Middle East and significant reserves of natural gas, of which it is a leading exporter regionally.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration country analysis brief.

Chevron could be using solar energy to produce the steam needed to mobilize heavy crude trapped in an oil field on the border between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

Instead of a windmill turning in the wind imagine a field of “stalks” that sway back and forth generating electricity. That’s the concept proposed for a new wind farm near Abu Dhabi.

“The expansion of massive salt evaporation projects on the Dead Sea are clearly visible in this time series of images taken by Landsat satellites operated by NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.” Quoted from the NASA image release.

“Based on projections from the EIA April 2012 Short-Term Energy Outlook, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could earn an estimated $1,171 billion of net oil export revenues in 2012 and $1,133 billion in 2013.” Quoted from the Energy Information Administration press release.