Saudi Aramco

Saudi Aramco is a massive company that belongs mostly to the state of Saudi Arabia.

It is the national oil company for the country. It is also the fourth-largest company in the world when looking at revenue. The company is based in a place called Dhahran. It manages over one hundred oil and gas fields across the land.

This company is very important because it holds the world's largest proven crude oil reserves. It also has the largest daily oil production of any company in the world.

How does the company find and move these resources? It operates the world's largest single network for gas, which is called the Master Gas System.

In 2024, the company's total oil production was 12.7 million barrels of oil equivalent every single day. It also manages huge reserves of natural gas. These reserves total 288.4 trillion standard cubic feet. Some fields are found on land, like the Ghawar Field. This is the largest onshore oil field in the world. Other fields are found in the ocean. The Safaniya Field is the largest offshore oil field.

The history of the company began many years ago. In 1920, there were oil shortages during World War I. American companies wanted to find new sources of oil. In 1932, a company called the Bahrain Petroleum Company found the first oil field in the Persian Gulf. Later, a company called SoCal was given permission to explore in Saudi Arabia.

After many years of searching without success, they finally found oil in 1938. They used a drill site called Dammam No. 7 in Dhahran. This well produced over 1,500 barrels of oil immediately. This success gave the company the confidence to keep going.

Over time, the company changed its name and ownership. In 1944, it became the Arabian American Oil Co., or Aramco. In 1947, other companies like Exxon and Mobil became shareholders. In 1974, the Saudi Arabian government increased its interest in the company to sixty percent. In 1988, a new company called the Saudi Arabian Oil Company was created to take control. This is the company we know today as Saudi Aramco. In 2019, the company began trading shares on the Saudi Exchange. This allowed people to buy parts of the company.

Saudi Aramco is linked to many global events and changes. During the Persian Gulf War in 1990, the company had to increase production to keep the world's oil market stable. It produced an extra 4.8 million barrels per day during that time. The company also faces modern challenges like computer attacks. In 2012, a virus called Shamoon hit many workstations. In 2019, drone attacks hit the Abqaiq facility and the Khurais oil field. These events changed how much oil the company could produce at once. Even with these hard jobs, the company remains a huge part of the world economy.