The second edition of the AAPG Stratigraphic Traps of the Middle East workshop took place on 11 – 13 December 2017 at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah hotel, Muscat, Oman. After the successful first edition in 2014 where attendees received an up-to-date knowledge about stratigraphic trap exploration, this year the aim of this event was to continue investigating the concepts of exploration of stratigraphic traps in the Middle East. For this second edition we had seventy two attendees from ten different countries.

This three-day event consisted of technical presentations, poster presentations, a half-day field trip, and breakout sessions. Participants had the opportunity to discuss and investigate specific themes that were of mutual interest. The first day featured two inaugural keynote speeches delivered by Nicholas Feast, Exploration Manager, PDO and Ibraheem Assa'adan, Vice President, Exploration, Saudi Aramco.

The workshop focused on new technologies and best-practices that support the evaluation of stratigraphic traps and the decision making process.

The workshop included the following technical sessions:

• Session 1: Global and Regional Frontier Case Histories
• Session 2: Role of Petroleum System Analysis and Regional Stratigraphic Framework for Exploring Stratigraphic Traps
• Session 3: Middle East Case Histories
• Session 4: Stratigraphic Trap Seal Assessment
• Session 5: Development of Stratigraphic Traps, Technology Applications and Future Opportunities

The second day of the workshop was followed by an optional field trip to the Muscat area led by Husam Al Rawahi, GSO. The thirty five attendees that participated in this adventure had the chance to visit different areas that exhibits the Semail Ophiolite which is a sliver of oceanic crust and upper mantle emplaced on the autochthonous Mesozoic carbonate succession of the Oman margin during the Late Cretaceous.

We would to take this opportunity to show our gratitude to Petroleum Development Oman and Saudi Aramco as Gold Sponsors and to OXY as the Silver Sponsor. Thank you for the huge commitment!