American Shale Pioneers Set to Explore the Middle East for Unconventional Oil & Gas

     American shale pioneers Continental Resources and EOG Resources have signed deals to explore for unconventional oil and gas in the Middle East. Continental plans to explore two separate regions in Türkiye, and EOG plans to explore Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

 

Turkiye

     Continental signed a joint venture agreement in March with Türkiye Petroleum and TransAtlantic Petroleum to explore and develop unconventional oil and gas resources in Turkey’s Diyarbakir and Thrace Basins. It is a new venture for Continental as their first major international project. Turkiye hopes to increase domestic hydrocarbon production and reduce reliance on imports. As of March 2025, Turkey’s domestic oil production is about 132,000 B/D. According to an article in Oklahoma Minerals, the potential of these basins is quite significant, and Turkiye has a strong desire to improve its energy exploration and production knowledge and expertise:

“According to Türkiye Petroleum, the Diyarbakir Basin could contain up to 6 billion barrels of oil and between 12 to 20 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas, while the Thrace Basin holds an estimated 20 to 45 Tcf of gas.”

“Turkey’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar described the joint venture as a game-changer for the country’s energy sector. He noted that by partnering with industry leaders, Turkey will not only boost its production capacity but also gain access to advanced technology, best practices, and workforce training that will benefit the entire energy ecosystem.”

     Recent discoveries in the Black Sea and in the Garbar Mountain Range, along the border with Iraq, are other exciting Turkish hydrocarbon plays. Transatlantic has been drilling horizontal wells in Southeast Türkiye in fractured carbonate formations. According to an article in the Journal of Petroleum Technology:

“Turkey plans to drill 153 oil exploration wells in 2025, focusing on the Gabar region in the Diyarbakir basin near the Turkey-Syria border, Bayraktar said, as tensions with Kurdish forces in the Diyarbakir region have recently eased.”

Turkiye has a strong pipeline network that connects Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. They are well situated to becoming a regional oil & gas hub. They have a strong play in the Black Sea that is expected to provide 30% of domestic natural gas by 2030. They also have LNG import and gasification terminals and two underground gas storage fields.

 

Bahrain

     EOG Resources has also not been a major international player, although they have kept some international assets. When I worked for them from the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, they had a project on the East Irish Sea that they ended up selling, and I believe they still have an ongoing project offshore Trinidad. They got into a deal in Indonesia in 2023, and now in 2025, they have announced two separate deals, one in Bahrain and one in Abu Dhabi, both of which plan to explore for unconventional oil & gas. In late February 2025, EOG signed a strategic agreement with Bapco Resources to explore for natural gas in Bahrain. They expect drilling to commence in 2025 and the first production in 2026. It is unclear if this will be onshore or offshore in the Persian Gulf or perhaps both. According to MEES:

“The reference appears to be the deep pre-Unayzah gas layers sitting under the Bahrain onshore field, which the country’s previous oil minister estimated holds 35tcf gas in place (MEES, 15 July 2022). Bapco has been targeting development of the gas as part of its $4.2bn Bahrain Field Oil and Gas Development Expansion project.”

 

UAE

     The UAE announced major long-term investments in U.S. oil and gas during Trump’s Middle East trip last week. In addition, the country “awarded a new oil exploration concession for Unconventional Onshore Block 3 (UCO3) by Abu Dhabi's Supreme Council for Financial and Economic Affairs (SCFEA)” to EOG Resources.

“The UCO3 concession area is 3,609 square kilometers, or nearly 900,000 acres, in an over-pressured, oil prone basin within the Al Dhafra region of Abu Dhabi. EOG holds 100 percent equity and operatorship and, in coordination with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), will explore and appraise unconventional oil in the concession area. Following a three year appraisal phase, EOG may enter into a production concession in which ADNOC has the option to participate. EOG currently expects to begin drilling in the second half of 2025 with no change to the company's 2025 capital plan.”

"We are excited for the opportunity to evaluate this hydrocarbon rich basin for potential horizontal development," said Ezra Y. Yacob, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of EOG. "We look forward to working alongside ADNOC to expand Abu Dhabi's resource potential."

The UCO3 block is shown below.

The Al Dhafra region is in the onshore Western part of the UAE in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

     The map below of the Middle East region shows the locations of these new deals.

 

 

References:

 

EOG Resources Awarded Onshore Concession to Explore and Appraise Unconventional Shale Block in the UAE. EOG Resources. May 16, 2025. EOG Resources Awarded Onshore Concession to Explore and Appraise Unconventional Shale Block in the UAE - May 16, 2025

Turkey and Continental Resources Team Up for Energy Exploration. Zachary Frazier. Oklahoma Minerals. March 12, 2025. Turkey and Continental Resources Team Up for Energy Exploration - OklahomaMinerals.com

UAE to up value of U.S. energy investments to $440 billion by 2035. Reuters. May 16, 2025. UAE to up value of U.S. energy investments to $440 billion by 2035

Turkey’s TPAO Inks JV With Continental Resources, TransAtlantic Petroleum. Pat Davis Szymczak. Journal of Petroleum Technology. March 23, 2025. Turkey’s TPAO Inks JV With Continental Resources, TransAtlantic Petroleum

Bahrain Unconventionals: EOG Eyes First Output In 2026. March 7, 2025. MEES. Issue: 68 / 10. James Marriot​t. Bahrain Unconventionals: EOG Eyes First Output In 2026 |...

Bahrain Taps EOG For Gas Drilling. February 28, 2025. MEES. Issue: 68 / 9. James Marriot​t. Bahrain Taps EOG For Gas Drilling | MEES

Bapco Energies and EOG Resources Inc. Sign Strategic Gas Exploration Agreement. Bapco Energies. February 26, 2025. Bapco Energies and EOG Resources Inc. Sign Strategic… | Bapco Energies

EOG Ventures into Bahrain with Exploration Project. Jov Onsat. Rigzone. March 4, 2025. EOG Ventures into Bahrain with Exploration Project | Rigzone