This regional investigation contributes to the understanding of the influence and relationship of gathering areas and seals to oil habitat in the Arabian basin. Cross plots and cumulative frequency distribution plots characterize the hydrocarbon habitat and lead to the following inferences: gathering- or fetch-area size and contemporaneous peak-oil-generation rank as important factors in the accumulation of giant Middle East oil reserves. The importance of excellent seals to Middle East oil abundance should be moderated by recognition of the impact of widespread peak-oil-generation to seal effectiveness.

The highest frequency of fields with several stacked reservoirs occurs in areas of modern peak-source-generation. Thin seals can be effective. Gross seal lithology is not as important as previously thought. Vertical migration through seals is an important process. Seals leak but are effective. Cross plots of original oil in place versus field gathering area can help to identify areas of rich and/or thick source rock or sweet spots. Inefficiencies resulting from long distance migration are not apparent.

Sweetness map analysis-using gathering area with assigned oil-in-place values-results in an inferred source rock distribution that contrasts with published source rock distributions.

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