The fourth edition of the AAPG/EAGE "Tight Reservoirs in the Middle East” GTW took place on 27 – 28 November 2018 at the Downtown Rotana Hotel, Manama, Bahrain. This year we had 80 attendees from ten different countries.

This event has been the first of its kind in terms of solely focusing on the experiences gained in exploring and developing tight reservoirs in the Middle East across the different disciplines (geology, geophysics and engineering).

The workshop has emphasized on the practical examples and knowledge gained from both industry and academia in the region.

The technical program included the following main sessions:

• Resource Assessments and De-Risking Approaches for Tight Reservoir Exploration and Development in the Middle East
• Challenges in Characterizing Tight Reservoirs and Identifying Sweet Spots
• Middle East Hydraulic Fracturing. What Works and What Doesn’t
• Closing the Loop and Industry Benchmarking. Production and Reservoir Engineering Best Practices

All sessions were designed to capture local experiences. However, they have also included international experiences outside the region in specifically production and reservoir engineering best practices.

One of the highlights of the event was the inaugural keynote speech delivered by Hisham Zubari, Senior Advisor Exploration, NOGA. In addition, we also hosted four keynote presentations:

• “All Eyes on Tight Rocks in Saudi Arabia, From Curious Paradox and Paradigm Shift to Value Creation” by Mohmmed Al-Duhailan, Saudi Aramco
• “Challenges in Characterizing Tight Reservoirs and their Sweet Spots” by Mark Lambert, Tatweer Petroleum
• “Hydraulic Fracturing From Low Permeability to Tight Reservoirs” by Hazim Abass, Colorado School of Mines
• “Challenges and Best Practices in the Development of Tight Gas Reservoirs in the Sultanate of Oman” by Vikram Singh, PDO

Taking advantage of the occasion, attendees built a discussion environment to go over tight reservoir challenges in the Middle East.

We would like to thank all attendees for their active participation. A special thanks to Saudi Aramco as the Platinum Sponsor of this event. Thank you for the amazing support!