Production is the process of drilling and extracting crude oil from the ground. The term ‘upstream’ relates to the exploration, production and transport of oil, prior to the refining process. COGE’s upstream activities include oil and natural gas exploration and production, together with the management of crude oil and natural gas pipelines, processing and export terminals.

First, locations containing suitable quantities of oil and gas must be discovered. There are a variety of methods involved in oil exploration; the method used most frequently involves seismologic analysis technology. The science of seismology involves generating shock waves that pass through rock layers beneath the Earth’s surface, similar to the way sonar work in the oceans. The “reflections” will travel at different velocities, depending upon the density of rock layers through which they must pass. The goal is to find the “Tail of the Oil”. The reflections are detected by hydrophones (if the search is conducted over water) or seismometers (if over land). The readings are then analyzed by seismologists for signs of oil and gas deposits.

For example, the description below illustrates the analysis COGE made of Yemen’s Tihama Basin;

1- The Red sea was initiated by a phase of rifting between African and Arabian plates during the Oligocene, the area was considered to have been centered over Afar triple Junction, (Menzies et al 1992)
2- The early Syn-rift phase is followed in the Mid Miocene.
3- The Syn-rift phase is followed in the Mid Miocene by a transitional phase represented by the main evaporate group. In this unite mobile salt was produced to form the wide variety of Structures.

Note: Results of seismologic studies conducted by COGE’s scientific offices, headed by Dr. Abdul Sattar Othman Nani.