Peak oil production in the Middle East's Arabian/Persian Gulf region and worldwide could be delayed if major multinational and national oil companies would invest more heavily in drilling and extraction technologies and push to explore new sites.

Barazangi argued that the "exploration story" in the Middle East is not yet complete. Two-thirds of the world's proven recoverable oil reserves exist in the Arabian Gulf, and there are more oil fields to be discovered through offshore and deep-water drilling, as well as more oil to be extracted from existing fields.

Barazangi stressed the fact that only seven countries worldwide (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, and Russia) contain 80 percent of the world's proven recoverable oil reserves. Five of those are notably in the Arabian Gulf region and share Islamic cultures. He argued that in order to better understand oil issues in the Gulf, the world must understand the Arab and Persian people, and Islam's history and culture.