How Aramco became synonymous with the time-tested Saudi-US partnership

How Aramco became synonymous with the time-tested Saudi-US partnership

DHAHRAN: Saudi Aramco has become synonymous with the longstanding partnership between the Kingdom and the US, and is arguably one of the world’s most successful financial collaborations. The name “Aramco” is an acronym for Arabian-American Company. The pact between the two countries is like sand, consisting of individual particles gathered together in a vast, integrated collective. To understand the current alliance between the countries through Aramco, requires a look back to the past. It started in 1933 when Standard Oil of California set up a new overseas exploration unit after signing a concession agreement with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A subsidiary company, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, was created to manage that agreement. Ambitious and optimistic, but without any known track record, drilling began in the Saudi desert in 1935. Geologists had a hunch that they would find something there. At the time, they used to scout areas in the sweltering Dammam heat and use their observation, and often just guestimates, to determine where to drill. They did so on six different occasions, finding nothing but expensive disappointment. Then, in 1938, American geologist Max Steineke famously told his team to “keep on drilling.” He struck liquid gold on