Discovery of Oil in Saudi Arabia

The discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia is a historic event that changed the course of the Kingdom. It began with the signing of the oil exploration concession on the fourth of Safar 1352 AH, corresponding to 29 May 1933, between King Abdulaziz ibn Abdulrahman Al Saud and the Standard Oil Company of California (Socal).[1][6]

Following the signing, geologists arrived in Dhahran and its surroundings on 23 September 1933, and drilling continued in the Dammam wells until the discovery was realised in Dammam Well No. 7; the phase culminated in the export of the first shipment of Saudi oil on 1 May 1939.[1][4][5]

The oil exploration concession was signed on the fourth of Safar 1352 AH, corresponding to 29 May 1933, between King Abdulaziz and the Standard Oil Company of California (Socal), after the discovery of oil in Bahrain had revived the prospects of exploration in the region.[1]

The signing took place at Khuzam Palace in Jeddah, where Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sulaiman represented the Saudi government on behalf of King Abdulaziz, and Mr Lloyd Hamilton represented the company.[6]

After the signing, geologists arrived on 23 September 1933 and landed at the coastal village of Jubail, about 105 kilometres north of Dammam, from where the field exploration work set out.[1]

On 30 April 1935, it was decided to begin drilling Dammam Well No. 1; after seven months of drilling the well produced a strong burst of gas and some shows of oil at a depth of about 700 metres, before its flow was stopped and it was plugged with cement because of equipment failure.[1]

Drilling Dammam Well No. 2 began on 8 February 1936; when it was tested in June 1936 oil flowed from it at a rate of 335 barrels per day, and its output reached 3,840 barrels per day after acid treatment.[1]

As the wells followed one another, the results were mixed: Dammam Well No. 1 failed after being drilled to a depth of more than 975 metres; Dammam Well No. 2 proved to produce water at 8 or 9 times its oil output; Dammam Well No. 3 produced no more than 100 barrels of heavy oil per day, while wells 4, 5 and 6 were dry, so the team continued its work on the deep test well.[2]

On the seventh of December 1936, the specialists in drilling exploration wells began drilling deep test well No. 7, after the result of the earlier wells had remained the same on reaching the Bahrain geological layer: that there was no oil.[3][2]

Ten months later, specifically on 16 October 1937 and at a depth of 1,097 metres, the drillers saw the first sign: 5.7 litres of oil in the diluted drilling mud returning from the well, with some gas.[4]

On the last day of 1937, the control equipment failed to bring the well under control and it blew out, ejecting the liquids and gases it held, and after drilling to a depth of 1,382 metres the drilling team found no appreciable amount of oil.[4]

Then in the first week of March 1938, Dammam Well No. 7 fulfilled the hoped-for result at a distance of 1,440 metres below the surface of the earth, and on the fourth of March 1938 it produced about 1,585 barrels per day.[5]

The well's output rose to 3,690 barrels on the seventh of March 1938; it recorded 2,130 barrels nine days later, then 3,732 barrels after five more days, then 3,810 barrels the following day.[3][4]

By the end of 1936, the number of Saudi workers on the oil project had risen to 1,076, alongside 62 non-Saudi workers, an indication of the expansion of field work and the employment of national talent in the project.[2]

In the spring of 1939, King Abdulaziz travelled with a delegation to Dhahran, crossing the Ad-Dahna desert, where a city of 350 tents was set up as the centre for celebrations that included visiting the wells, holding banquets and receiving delegations of well-wishers.[1]

This coincided with the completion of the pipeline extending from the Dammam field to the port of Ras Tanura, 69 kilometres long, where King Abdulaziz turned the valve with his own hand to load the first shipment of Saudi oil, the first shipment of crude oil exported by the Kingdom on 11 Rabi' al-Awwal 1358 AH, corresponding to the first of May 1939.[4]

Q: When was the oil exploration concession signed in Saudi Arabia? A: On the fourth of Safar 1352 AH, corresponding to 29 May 1933, between King Abdulaziz and the Standard Oil Company of California (Socal).

Q: Where was the agreement signed? A: At Khuzam Palace in Jeddah, where Sheikh Abdullah Al-Sulaiman represented the Saudi government on behalf of King Abdulaziz, and Mr Lloyd Hamilton represented the company.

Q: In which well was the oil discovery realised? A: In Dammam Well No. 7, which produced oil on the fourth of March 1938 at a distance of 1,440 metres below the surface of the earth at a rate of 1,585 barrels per day, and its output rose to 3,690 barrels on the seventh of March 1938.

Q: When did the Kingdom export its first shipment of oil? A: On 11 Rabi' al-Awwal 1358 AH, corresponding to the first of May 1939, through a pipeline 69 kilometres long from the Dammam field to the port of Ras Tanura.

Q: How many Saudi workers were there on the project? A: 1,076 by the end of 1936, alongside 62 non-Saudi workers.

The discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia began with the concession agreement of 1933, then passed through successive drilling stages in the Dammam wells until the discovery was realised at Dammam Well No. 7 on 4 March 1938, and it culminated in the export of the first shipment of Saudi oil on 1 May 1939, marking a turning point in the Kingdom's economic course.[1][4][5]