Volume One

Preface xi

Illustration: Saudi Arabia xiv

1 Prospects 1

2 Negotiations 33

3 Reading the Rocks 59

4 the War Years 93

5 expansion 123

6 Growing Pains 153

7 Balancing Act 189

list of Abbreviations 215

notes on Sources 216

Image Credits 220

Index 223

Contents

First editionPrinted in 2011

All rights reserved. no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of Aramco Services Company, except by a reviewer, who may quote a brief passage for review.

copyright 2011 by Aramco Services Company

iSbn 978-1-882771-23-0

library of congress control number200922694

Written by Scott mcmurray

Produced by The history FactoryChantilly, Virginia, uSA

Project coordinators Theodore J. Brockish, Kyle l. Pakka and mohammad S. Abu Al-makarem, Saudi Aramco with special thanks to muhammad A. Tahlawi

Published by Aramco Services Companyhouston, Texas, uSA www.aramcoservices.com

designed by Pivot design, Inc.www.pivotdesign.com

Printed by Altraiki Printing Companydammam, Saudi Arabia

Volume two

Illustration: Saudi Arabia viii

1 National Resources 1

2 Boom time 27

3 transformation 67

4 Rising to the Challenge 99

5 Achieving the Vision 131

Appendix 168

A. upstream 170

B. downstream 184

C. operations data 194

Company leadership 204

Acknowledgments 206

list of Abbreviations 209

notes on Sources 210

Bibliography 214

Image Credits 216

Index 219

vi EnErgy To ThE World : VolumE onE

photo

This book would not have been possible without the support

of the following members of Saudi Aramco management:

Ali I. Al-naimi

Abdallah S. Jumah, Khalid A. Al-Falih m. yusof rafie, Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal

mustafa A. Jalali, Khaled A. Al-Buraik, Khalid I. Abubshait

Essam Z. Tawfiq, nasser A. Al-nafisee, Khalid K. Al-mulhim

Emad m. Al-dughaither, Fuad F. Therman, Ziyad m. Alshiha, Tareq m. Al-ghamdi, Saleh m. Assabti, mohammed A. Al-osaimi

the gasoline treatment plant in the Ras tanura Refinery, shown in 1948, was symbolic of Aramcos rapid growth after World War ii and of its emergence as a key player in the global energy industry.

I knew putting Saudi Aramcos history in perspective was going to be a challenge a few minutes

into my 2007 tour of the construction site where now sits the companys Khursaniyah oil and

gas processing complex. Thats when I saw the massive steel storage vessel. one of six tanks

on-site designed to hold natural gas liquids (ngl), it was 67.7 meters long and 6.6 meters

wide and tipped the scaleshad any been large enough to accommodate the submarine-sized

cylinderat 1,050 metric tons. Even though the intense desert sun made the thick steel far

too hot to touch, that wasnt hot enough for its intended purpose. To withstand the rigors of

hydrocarbon processing, the metal required heat-treating to 670 degrees Celsius for seven

days. As hard as it was to imagine that kind of intense heat for so long, it was just as difficult

to realize that, in order to speed delivery schedules, the vessels had actually been baked on-site

in gigantic gas-fired ovens as if they were so many loaves of bread.

Impossibly big, impossibly heavy, impossibly hot and impossibly complexbut as I dis-

covered during my many visits to Saudi Arabia and in my many conversations with employees,

active or retired, Saudi or expatriate, impossible has never been in Saudi Aramcos dictionary.

And as impossible as it might seem, the Khursaniyah project was only one of a half-dozen other

massive Saudi Aramco oil and gas projects under way simultaneously around the Kingdom

at that time. I was standing near the center of the biggest and most expensive peacetime

construction program in history, led by the worlds largest petroleum company, designed to

increase production capacity levels from the largest proven oil reserves and the fourth-largest

gas reserves on the planet. As I was to learn in the course of writing this history, this was just

one example of the companys proud legacy of accomplishments in the petroleum industry.

ultimately, any story of technological achievement gains lasting meaning only when

told in the context of the individuals who conceived of and executed these marvels of modern

development. The same can be said for nation building. Take away the people and we are left

with mere statistics. The story of the evolution of Saudi Aramco and the unparalleled oil and

gas resources it has developed, often under extremely trying conditions, is indivisible from

the story of the development of Saudi Arabia itself, which was fueled by those very resources.

And at the heart of these intertwined tales are the people who led the development of country

and company.

Saudi sovereignsthe larger-than-life founder of Saudi Arabia known as King Abd al-Aziz and his son and the reigning monarch, Custodian of the Two holy mosques King Abd Allahbegin and end our tale because the development of the countrys natural oil and gas resources has followed the vision established by the countrys rulers. making this vision

PRefACe xi

Preface

PRefACe xiii

note on SourceS With the interest of the general reader in mind, source notes are included

for each chapter at the end of the volume in which the chapter appears. Sources are provided

for major points raised in each chapter, and a list of books used as primary references for each

chapter is also included. A complete bibliography is in the back of Volume Two. A list of all cur-

rent and former employees of Saudi Aramco who were interviewed by The history Factory in

the preparation of this history also is included in the appendix at the end of Volume Two. unless

otherwise noted, direct quotes from current or former employees of Saudi Aramco are drawn

from these interviews or interviews conducted by Saudi Aramco employees.

uSe oF HiStorical SPelling From Source material To retain the sense of authenticity conveyed

by original texts, this history uses the original spellings included in source materials that are quoted

directly. Indirect quotes or other references use generally accepted contemporary spellings.

arabic tranSliteration The transliteration of Arabic into English in this text follows a system

used by Saudi Aramco, which closely adheres to a generally accepted system of transliteration

from Arabic to English.

A few comments about the Arabic language for readers of English: one Arabic consonant

that has no counterpart in English is the letter ayn, which is generally represented by an inverted apostrophe (). It often appears in personal or place names, such as Al Saud. When an Arabic word has acquired a common English-language usage, however, the popular form is used: Saudi

Arabia instead of Saudi Arabia. other common Arabic usages bear explaining. The word al- (joined to the following word

with a small a, unless it begins a sentence or is part of an individual's name) is the definite

article and corresponds to the English the. The similar Al (always with a capital A and never

joined to the following word) means house (or family) of. Al Saud is the name of the ruling family of Saudi Arabia.

When naming offspring, abd, or servant of, is commonly used to form Arabic personal names such as Abd Allah (Servant of god) or Abd al-rahman (Servant of the merciful). The word ibn, sometimes pronounced bin, means son of or descendant of the house (or family)

of, as in Ibn Saud. The word abu means father of.

a reality over the decades has been the responsibility of a cast of thousands of individuals

from Saudi Arabia and scores of other countries. one thing unites them all, whether they

are operators at the haradh gas Plant, maintenance workers at the yanbu crude oil terminal, teachers in the company school at Abqaiq or drillers in the Khurais oil field: They all share a

unique identity as Aramcons. This is their story.

Shaping a narrative history inevitably means focusing on the achievements of some at

the expense of others. I have tried to tell the story of Saudi Aramco as accurately and fairly

as possible. In the process, I have given voice to some who were not heard from in earlier

histories of the region and era. If at the same time I inadvertently have silenced others, the

fault is mine alone.

Scott mcmurray

xii PRefACe