Links to The Past

Over the years, Saudi Aramco and its predecessor companies have published numerous articles about the company's historic origins, its rise to leadership in the global energy industry, and the people who made it all possible.
 
Here is a selection of fascinating accounts from our company publications.
 
Saudi Aramco Dimensions  
The Arabian Sun  
Saudi Aramco World  
Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah

Saudi Aramco Dimensions

Dimensions magazine is published up to four times a year for the affiliates, customers and employees of Saudi Aramco.

60 Years of Partnering for Private-Sector Growth 

By Arthur P. Clark  
Fall 2002  
DHAHRAN, SAUDI ARABIA—Saudi Aramco, like the Eastern Province Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which celebrated its 50th birthday in February, has a proud tradition of supporting the development of private enterprise in the region. [Link]  

Saudi Aramco Turns 70

By Rick Snedeker  
Fall 2003  
DHAHRAN—It all began with a hunch. Fred Davies, a young Standard Oil Co. of California (Socal) geologist dispatched to look for oil on the Arabian Gulf island of Bahrain in the early 1930s, was tantalized by the promise of the landscape shimmering like a mirage 25 kilometers (15 miles) away in mainland Saudi Arabia.  

Ras Tanura Refinery: Six Decades of Unparalleled Service
 
By Lori Olson White  
Winter 2006  
RAS TANURA, Saudi Arabia — From the most humble of origins, Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura Refinery has evolved and grown over the last six decades into one of the most celebrated industrial complexes in the Arabian Gulf region.

The Arabian Sun

The Arabian Sun is the company’s English-language weekly newspaper and one of the most enduring employee publications in the corporate world. Its first issue appeared on July 1, 1945, under the quirky name The Dust Rag. On Oct. 28 of that year, it was renamed Arabian Sun. On June 2, 1946, the paper was became >i>Arabian Sun and Flare to reflect a merger with a Ras Tanura periodical. On June 29, 1955, it became simply Sun and Flare. On Jan. 3, 1973, the paper assumed its present name, The Arabian Sun.
 

It Seemed Like a Never Ending Cycle Since His Majesty Arrived
 
January 26, 1947  
His Excellency Shaikh Abdulla as Sulaiman approved what started out to be a tentative visit program which was subject to change in accordance with His Majesty’s wishes, but His Majesty King ‘Abdul ‘Aziz ibn Sa‘ud proved the years have dealt kindly with him and he kept pace with all the functions.[Link]
 

His Majesty King Fahd Honors Aramco at 50
 
May 18, 1983  
His Majesty King Fahd ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz visited Aramco Monday, June16, to commemorate the company’s 50th anniversary and inaugurate the Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center, EXPEC, and the Central Dispatch Center.[Link]

Saudi Aramco World

Saudi Aramco World magazine the company’s flagship international publication, is edited at Aramco Services Company in Houston, Texas, and distributed worldwide six times a year to increase cross-cultural understanding.
 

Tom Barger: Myth or Man?
 
By Paul F. Hoye  
September/October 1969  
No one has ever suggested that Tom Barger be canonized but if someone does it will be a hard movement to block. Barger, it seems, is not merely the head of a large oil company. Lord, no. He is also the most intelligent, resourceful, imaginative, judicious, energetic and honest executive east of Rockefeller Center… [Link]
 

Aramco’s Bedouins
 
By William E. Mulligan  
July/August 1973  
When American geologists, exploring what became the Aramco oil concession in Saudi Arabia, asked the Amir of Dammam to recommend a guide, the Amir sent them a man named Sa'id ibn Nasir al-Mu'ammam….. Sa'id was known to his friends as "the Sinafi," roughly translated as "Squire," and his badge number was 132, which makes him virtually a founding father.[Link]  

The Pioneers
 
By Thomas Lippman  
May/June 2004  
In the early decades of the 20th century, the people of what is today Saudi Arabia lived lives of considerable austerity. Formal education was uncommon, and the conveniences of the industrial era were mostly unknown. By the time ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman Al Sa‘ud … merged his central Arabian realm of the Najd with the western Kingdom of the Hijaz to form the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932, the new nation was deeply in debt….[Link]

Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah

Al-Ayyam Al-Jamilah or “Pleasant Days,” is a magazine produced at Aramco Services Company in Houston, Texas, for expatriate retirees, their families and friends of Saudi Aramco and its associated companies.
 

A Chair Fit for a King
 
Fall 2001  
Leslie Goss started out in Producing in 1969, then later became Vice President of Community Services. He spent his last few years with Saudi Aramco back in Producing and retired to Austin in 1984, taking with him a chair with an illustrious history. [Link]
 

When Malaria Met Its Match
 
Fall 2001  
Dr. Richard Daggy, born August 23, 1914, joined Aramco in 1947 as a medical entomologist. … From 1960-1964 he was Aramco’s medical director. Richard Daggy, who passed away January 21, 2001, was instrumental in helping eradicate malaria from the Kingdom.[Link]  

Tapline Goes to Sea
 
By Olivia C. Bigelow  
Winter 2002  
My husband, Orvis K. “Bud” Bigelow, (deceased January 28, 2001) was supervisor of accounting in the Beirut, Lebanon, office of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline Company (Tapline). He began his career with Tapline in October 1947 and retired December 31, 1962.[Link]