The state-owned national oil company of Saudi Arabia, is the largest oil corporation
in the world and the world's largest in terms of proven crude oil reserves
and production. Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Saudi Aramco also operates
the world's largest single hydrocarbon network, the Master Gas System. It was
formerly known as just Aramco between the years of 1933-1988, an acronym for
Arabian American Oil Company.
As of end 2006, its yearly production
of only crude oil neared 3.4 billion barrels (540,000,000 m³) and it managed over
100 oil and gas fields in Saudi Arabia alone totaling at least 264 billion
barrels (42,000,000,000 m³) of oil reserves and 253 quadrillion scf of gas reserves.
Among
those fields fully owned by the company are the Ghawar Field,
the world's largest field overall; the Safaniya Field, also the world's largest
offshore; and the Shaybah Field, one of the world's largest of its kind.
Saudi
Aramco's history dates back to May 29, 1933, when the Government
of Saudi Arabia signed a concessionary agreement with Standard Oil of California
(Socal) allowing them to explore Saudi Arabia for oil. Standard Oil of California
passed this concession to a wholly-owned subsidiary called California-Arabian
Standard Oil Co. (Casoc). In 1936 with the company having no success at
locating oil, the Texas Oil Company purchased a 50% stake of the concession. |
