Riyadh professionals forum empowers youth in heritage preservation

Riyadh professionals forum empowers youth in heritage preservation

DHAHRAN: The Energy Exhibit, formerly the Oil Exhibit, celebrates its 60th anniversary this year as one of the Kingdom’s premier attractions, a space dedicated to making “facts fun” — and all without asking visitors to pay a penny to enter.

For the past six decades, the exhibit has showcased the knowledge and techniques behind the extraction of oil and related energy resources in Saudi Arabia, attracting thousands of visitors, ranging from young students to world leaders, every year.

At its headquarters, located on top of the Dammam field where oil was discovered in the Kingdom in 1938, the exhibit offers 40 programs throughout the year — a perfect juxtaposition of the old and the new.

For the past six decades, the oil and energy exhibit has attracted thousands of visitors, from students to world leaders. (Instagram/Ithra)

From the start, the space catered mostly to the youth. Each year, between 30,000 and 50,000 students from local towns and villages across the Eastern Province visit as part of the site’s educational program.

Fuad Al-Therman, a senior manager with Saudi Aramco and former director of King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, told Arab News that in the early years of the project, the visit for many students was