The Arabian plate region (roughly the Arabian Peninsula, the Fertile Crescent and SE Turkey and SW Iran south of the Taurus/Zagros Mountains) contains 66.4% and 33.9% of the world's recoverable oil and gas reserves as of the start of 1998. Over 98% of these reserves are located along the NE Arabian shelf margin stretching from Iraq to Oman. The reasons behind this richness in hydrocarbons are examined. Some of the factors responsible for such richness include the presence of many petroleum systems over geological time including repeated and extensive source rock beds, excellent carbonate and some sandstone reservoirs in good juxtaposition, excellent regional seals, huge anti-clinal traps and a long history of almost uninterrupted sedimentation. The critical factor, however, is the areal extent of the NE margin shelf reaching 2000 km in width and nearly 3000 km in length, for which there is no modern analogue. A plea is made for an immediate input of R and D funds to establish a commercially viable energy alternative(s) to this finite valuable resource (feedstock for the petrochemical industries and a huge source of synthetic proteins) which is due to run out in about 43 years at the present day rate of consumption.