Saudi Aramco

On May 29, 1933, a concession agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Standard Oil Company of California (SoCal) created the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company. That venture, renamed the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) in 1944, discovered commercial oil in 1938 and transformed a desert kingdom into a global energy powerhouse. Full nationalization came in 1988, when the company became the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, known today as Saudi Aramco.

Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Aramco holds proven crude oil reserves of over 270 billion barrels and produces roughly 3.4 billion barrels of petroleum annually. Its operations span the entire hydrocarbon value chain: exploration, production, refining, chemicals, and marketing. The company manages some of the world's largest oil fields, including Ghawar, the biggest conventional oil field ever found. It also operates major downstream projects like Sadara and Petro Rabigh, positioning itself as a leading global chemicals player.

In 2019, Saudi Aramco raised $30 billion in an initial public offering of 5% of its shares on the Tadawul stock exchange, one of the largest IPOs in history. The company reported revenue of $480.4 billion and net income of $106.2 billion in 2024. It is majority owned by the Saudi state, with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman signaling further share sales as part of Vision 2030. Beyond oil, Aramco is investing in AI, carbon capture, and lower-carbon technologies, including a Jubail carbon capture project set to capture up to 9 million metric tons of CO2 annually by 2027. [edit]