Spring 2009

A periodical of Saudi Aramco

Company welcomes former employees, dependents

 Spring 2009

2 Cluster industries to stimulate growth

12 Dalian Refinery offloads first Saudi crude
18 Conquering ageless Kilimanjaro
A veil of clouds partially obscures a flank of
Tanzania’s Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest
24 Scholar sowed seeds of Saudi-Japanese ties
peak. A group of Saudi Aramco adventurers 30 Former Aramcons come home again
recently climbed the volcano to celebrate a
colleague’s 50th birthday. See story and photos 32 News Dimensions: Rafie retires
starting on Page 18.
Inside Back Cover The Way We Were

2 12 18 24 30

32 About the cover: In a photo by Arabian Sun reporter Sara Bassam, former Aramco employee Bert Seal displays his
visitor’s badge, left, for the recent Annuitant Reunion in the Kingdom, and his original company employee badge.
Seal was an employee of Aramco during 1955–1960, assigned as a photographer for the Sun & Flare, Aramco’s weekly
newspaper for employees and dependents that was the forerunner to the Arabian Sun. The background photo of
construction of the then-new Aramco main administration building in Dhahran was shot by Seal in June 1956.

About the back cover: Saudi Aramco’s Manal Al-Dowayan, a gifted photographer now a resident artist with the
Delfina Foundation in London, shot this captivating photograph while studying the meaning and style of veils in
Saudi Arabia. The project resulted in a series of photos of Saudi women covered by veils from different parts of
their country.

The Saudi Arabian Oil Company, also known as Saudi Aramco Dimensions is published periodically Design:
Saudi Aramco, was established by Royal Decree for the affiliates, customers and employees of the Amy Reed Neal, Herring Design, Houston, Texas, U.S.A.
in November 1988 to succeed the original U.S. Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco). Printing:
concessionary company, Aramco. The Aramco Sarawat Designers and Printers, Jiddah, Saudi Arabia
concession dates back to 1933. Khalid A. Al-Falih
President and Chief Executive Officer All editorial correspondence should be addressed to:
Beginning in 1973, under terms of an agreement The Editor, Saudi Aramco Dimensions
Khaled A. Al-Buraik
with the four Aramco shareholders, the Saudi Public Relations Department,
Executive Director, Saudi Aramco Affairs
Government began acquiring an ownership Saudi Aramco Box 5000
Emad M. Al-Dughaither Dhahran 31311
interest. By 1980, with retroactive financial effect
Manager (A), Public Relations Department Saudi Arabia
to 1976, the Government’s beneficial interest
in Aramco increased to 100 percent when it paid Editor: ISSN 1319-0520
for substantially all of Aramco’s assets. Rick Snedeker Copyright © 2009 Aramco Services Company
SPRING 2009
Contributing to this issue:
Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Council for Petroleum and
Seba Al-Maghlouth, Khalid F. Altowelli, Sara Bassam, Printed on recycled paper
Mineral Affairs determines policies and oversees
Stephen Brundage, Mike Hulver, Mark Kennedy, www.saudiaramco.com
operations of the Kingdom’s oil and gas industries.
Delshad Kumana, Bert Seal and Rick Snedeker
Saudi Aramco’s Board of Directors is chaired by
HE Ali I. Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and
Mineral Resources.
 — Four years ago, members of Saudi Aramco’s New Business Development (NBD)
organization wanted to answer Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources HE Ali Al-Naimi’s call to diversify the Kingdom’s
economy by expanding and diversifying its economic activities, and creating jobs. Helping to diversify the national
economy was also one of the company’s strategic imperatives, and NBD felt they had something positive to contribute.

There were many Diversifying the coun-

reasons to diversify the try’s economy, in the right
Kingdom’s economy, not way, would create mean-
the least of which is the fact ingful employment oppor-
that most of the country’s tunities for young Saudis.
economic activity is gener- With 60 percent of Saudi
ated by the petroleum and Arabia’s population under
chemicals industries. the age of 25 and soon
“As a percentage of seeking good jobs (or
GDP, only 10 percent of already seeking good jobs),
Saudi Arabia’s economic this is a pressing challenge.
output comes from non- To illustrate, as of year-end
oil manufacturing. The 2007, only 54,936 Saudis
figure is even lower — out of 765,621 Saudis in
just 6 percent — as a per- the private sector work-
centage of total employ- force — only slightly more
ment,” said Azzam Y. than 7 percent — were
Shalabi, formerly of Saudi employed in jobs directly
Aramco and president of related to the petroleum
the National Industrial and mining industries.
Cluster Development The question that NBD
Program (NICDP), who wrestled with was: where
was to play a key role in were all the other jobs in
figuring out just how to non-oil-and-gas industries
diversify the Kingdom’s economy. Above: Modern and tra- going to come from? And how can Saudi
The problem is that the oil-and-gas indus- ditional Islamic design Aramco best help to create them?
elements merge in the
tries are extremely capital-intensive and don’t entrance to the Royal The role of the NBD is to attract and
create many jobs relative to the amount of Commission for Jubail develop new businesses that will partner with,
and Yanbu‘ headquarters
money invested (each new job in the oil and in Yanbu‘. Opposite: A
or act as service providers for the company
chemicals industries requires an investment cluster of white buildings — in other words, to help create employment
of somewhere in between $500,000 to near Yanbu‘ is dwarfed opportunities (either directly or indirectly)
by the nearby mountains.
$1 million). related to the Kingdom’s oil-and-gas industry.
And the Kingdom’s petroleum industry is In their own way, and within their limited
already highly developed and will only offer a limited num- mandate, the people in NBD put their particular talents
ber of additional opportunities in the near future. Those to work every day to identify ways to improve the socio-
opportunities would have relatively high earning poten- economic health of the Kingdom. So to be puzzling over
tial, but they would also require high levels of education how to do this outside the oil-and-gas industry wasn’t
and experience. necessarily beyond NBD’s capabilities, it just wasn’t within

Spring 2009 3
its traditional scope of responsibility. I see people today who can’t find jobs and
But Saudi Aramco has had a long tradi- that hurts. When I walk around and I see
tion of not only doing what’s best for the these young people, I say to myself, ‘What are
company but also for the country. So NBD we doing for them?’ It’s always in my mind.”
launched a study to investigate what it It’s a tall order. One of the ways that Saudi
would take to create the necessary jobs Aramco is doing its part to address this prob-
and diversify the Kingdom’s economy. And lem is by making a significant investment to
though the results of this study would have create a thriving petrochemical industry. For
negligible benefits for the company, it was instance, the Petro Rabigh oil/petrochemical
the right thing to do for the country. complex, now in the final construction phase
on the Red Sea, and its
A TALL ORDER

N
associated conversion park
ew Business are projected to bring in
Development was other downstream busi-
intent on creating nesses that will need not
living-wage jobs for the only the Kingdom’s readily
wave of young educated available gas fuel and feed-
Saudis who would need stocks, but employees —
careers capable of support- Saudi employees.
ing families and middle Petro Rabigh will be the
class lifestyles. Kingdom’s first integrated
It turns out that this is petroleum refinery and
the demographic most in petrochemical complex,
need of help. According to taking advantage of the
a recent survey, the highest synergy of fuels produc-
unemployment rates in the tion occurring in the same
Kingdom of Saudi Arabia complex as petrochemicals
occur among the youngest manufacturing. More to
of the country’s workforce the point, Petro Rabigh
and among those who have will need support indus-
a high school diploma or tries, and it is envisioned
bachelor’s degree. What this to spawn myriad down-
suggests is that the neces- stream enterprises.
sary professional opportuni- Al-Aydh said, “We will
ties simply aren’t yet available. Above: Industry spawns communi- provide petrochemicals that we will pro-
ties and their amenities, such as
“Just like anybody else in the Kingdom, duce, and we will encourage investors to
mosques. Opposite: Pipelines and
I care about the young generation,” said tank farms sprout from the desert come and establish conversion facilities
Salim S. Al-Aydh, Saudi Aramco’s senior at Yanbu‘ Refinery. Industrial com- where they will take our products and
plexes generally stimulate a host
vice president of Engineering and Project of support and downstream facili- convert them into consumer products.
Management. “I think we have a respon- ties, and residential communities. And these consumer products will be
sibility to do what we can do to provide used to build cars and household appli-
jobs for them. My children are grown and have jobs, but ances like refrigerators and so on. So that’s the idea —
I have grandchildren I worry about. I worry all the time, to create the chain.”
and I wonder what I can do for them. And my grandchildren But other efforts are needed to complement what the
are just like the rest of the new generation in the Kingdom. company is already doing. Enter NBD.

4 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

 THE CLUSTER PHENOMENON

W
NBD determined that the best employment
opportunities for Saudis resided in a specific hy is Houston known as the oil-
range of industries they called the “Sweet and-gas capital of the U.S? Why
Spot” — that is, industries that require high is Seattle considered the hub of the
skill sets, offer attractive compensation and software industry in the U.S? Why is Silicon
create the most jobs per dollar invested. At Valley … well, Silicon Valley?
the top of the curve for combining skills and These leading industrial centers are the
wages were occupations in the oil-and-gas result of a phenomenon that has been occur-
industry. At the other end of the spectrum ring naturally for a long, long time. They are
was textiles — an industry that doesn’t require what Harvard competitiveness guru Mike
much capital but creates a lot of low-wage Porter has recently studied and termed “clus-
jobs. NBD came up with a list of 18 industries ters.” The term “cluster” can be thought of as
that met their “Sweet Spot” a framework for understanding
criteria. The problem was, of economic and industrial devel-
the original list of 18, none opment, competitiveness, and
were industries that had been where, how and why industries
established to any high degree evolve the way they do.
within the Kingdom. Basically, a cluster can be
Given the international com- defined as a geographic concen-
petition for manufacturing jobs, tration of interconnected and
from places such as Turkey, interrelated companies and insti-
India and China, NBD had tutions in a particular area that
to look for areas where the are linked by common technolo-
Kingdom’s resources could offer gies, skill sets, customers and
some form of advantage. So, to suppliers. Its components can
narrow the field even further, include elements of government,
NBD turned its focus on the industry, academia, research
industries that could benefit companies, the business itself
from and further leverage the and its supporting businesses
raw materials that are readily all working together within a
available at a competitive price more or less defined physical
in the Kingdom — “advantage infrastructure (an industrial
materials” — like energy or park, a town, a geographical
steel or petrochemical feed- location like a valley…).
stocks that will come from Take Houston for example.
facilities like Petro Rabigh. They At one end of the oil-and-gas
also looked at industries that could take Top: Saudi Aramco president and CEO value chain you have the oil and gas
Khalid Al-Falih listens to a presentation companies. But then, as you move
advantage of the Kingdom’s geographi-
at the recent steering committee meet-
cally strategic location to serve the ing of the National Industrial Cluster along the value chain, you next find
export market. This analysis led to Development Program (NICDP) in Shay- the service companies like Schlumberger
bah. Above: Commerce and Industry
a profile of the five industries most Minister HE Abdullah Bin Ahmad Zainal,
and Kellogg, Brown and Root. Then
suited to setting up shop in the left, chats with Salim Al-Aydh, senior there are the equipment suppliers and
vice president of Engineering and Project the technology providers. Next are the
Kingdom: automotive assembly, con-
Management, middle, and Dr. Abdulaziz
struction materials, metals processing, Abdulateef Jazzar, president of Compu- subcontractors and the business services.
packaging and consumer goods. me Group and Al Malaz Group. Lastly, you find academia, technical

6 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

training institutions and industry associations. All of these economy. Now it was time to see if the government liked
are located in the Houston area, and they all work interac- the idea.
tively to support the oil-and-gas industry and, some degree,
SOMETHING UNEXPECTED HAPPENED

I
one another.
Clusters like Houston and Silicon Valley grew organically, n late 2006, NBD approached the Ministry of Petro-
as a natural result of the economic environment. NBD’s leum and Mineral Resources with the cluster concept,
plan was to create clusters within the Kingdom based thinking the government might want to use the model
around the five “Sweet as one way to help
Spot” industries, which diversify the economy
could leverage the and create the jobs
Kingdom’s advantage they so urgently needed
materials and strategic for the country’s young
location. Only they people.
wanted to accelerate The current head of
the process. New Business Develop-
This was not an ment, Abdulaziz M.
entirely new concept. Al-Judaimi, said, “It’s a
Countries like Singapore little bit of a paradigm
and South Korea had shift in the sense that
done it and with suc- these jobs will not come
cessful results. Those from capital-intensive
two countries at one oil projects but rather
time contained poor from small to medium
agricultural societies industries that will come
struggling to feed their and contribute to the
people. And over a peri- support of the King-
od of several decades dom’s economy. It’s
they became industrial a noble program that
giants. The key would will create high-skill
be to customize the jobs with high pay.”
process to account for The Ministry
Saudi Arabia’s unique reviewed the data and
advantages. carefully considered the
“Anything that we strategy that NBD had
can do to develop the Kingdom’s economy Aref Ali of the Office of laid out. The response was unanimous: they
the President and CEO
is important to the company,” said Al-Aydh. loved it. Then something unexpected hap-
works the bellows at
“It’s important to me personally. And as a Shaybah’s visitor’s center pened. The Ministry, seeing the amount of
company we have a social responsibility to during the recent gather- work that had gone into preparing the cluster
ing of the NICDP steering
create jobs for our young people who are committee. plan for the Kingdom and, not wanting to
looking for work. And we think we can create lose the momentum, decided that NBD was
these clusters and be competitive, not only in the local mar- the perfect organization to carry the concept forward to
ket but also in the region and the international market.” the next phase of development.
NBD conducted all of the necessary research, identi- The Ministry agreed to sponsor the program and Saudi
fied the opportunities and uncovered the recommended Aramco’s role was to further define specific strategies and
approach for creating good jobs and diversifying the roadmaps for taking clusters from concept to reality.

Spring 2009 7
 Part of the process involved creating an entirely new tier-one companies with the know-how, the technology
government organization from scratch. On April 3, 2007, and the market channels to make these export-driven
Council of Ministers Decree No. 62 legally established products.”
the National Industrial Cluster Development Program Within the automotive industry, for instance, automo-
(NICDP). Funding was provided for the new government tive assembly was identified as an anchor project. The
organization and a rationale was simple,
steering committee, the Kingdom has the
headed by Prince plastics, it has the
Faisal bin Turki, steel, it has the inex-
adviser to the Min- pensive and abun-
istry of Petroleum dant energy. Once
and Mineral Re- the assembly plant
sources, was created was up and running,
to manage the proj- it would then attract
ect. The first presi- all the supporting
dent of NICDP business that go
would be Azzam along with it. All
Shalabi. The choice of these supporting
of these two men to tier businesses would
spearhead the effort want to be co-located
would prove a wise for logistical purpos-
decision over and es and to reap the
over again as they advantages of just-in-
wielded their experi- time manufacturing
ence and interper- philosophy.
sonal skills to keep “It is very interest-
the ball moving ing to see how things
toward the goal line are evolving in the
and to bring inter- Kingdom,” Al-
ested parties into Judaimi said. “When
the process. I was young, I want-
To jump-start each ed to be a petroleum
of the five “Sweet engineer because the
Spot” cluster pro- only major industry
gram industries, NBD available in Saudi
developed what are called anchor Top: A presenter shows an industrial devel- Arabia at the time was oil opera-
projects. These anchor projects would opment chart to Mohamed H. Al-Mady, tions. This was very clear in my
right, vice chairman and CEO of Saudi Basic
be the primary businesses around Industries Corp. (SABIC), and other execu- mind. Now, for my kids, they have
which the Kingdom’s clusters would tives. Above: HRH Amir Faisal bin Turki, different opportunities. If they want
chairman of the National Industrial Cluster
grow. They would act as the catalyst Development Program (NICDP) Steering
careers in anything — law, finance,
for the whole process. Committee, standing in middle, and other and in time, automotive manufactur-
“When looking at these clusters, committee members visit the operations ing — they can pursue it here.”
control room at Shaybah.
the initial key elements are the anchor But convincing even one auto
projects,” said Shalabi. “Without these, it will take too major to build an auto assembly plant in Saudi Arabia
long to make the clusters a reality, because you need these would be another matter altogether.

8 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

THE (VALUE) PROPOSITION

T
for the level of skill they possess?”
he cluster program for the Kingdom was NBD went to the U.S. to study model
kind of a “build it and they will come” programs that create bridges between em-
strategy — get the anchor projects estab- ployers, workers and training programs,
lished and the tier supply businesses would including an emerging concept called Work-
follow. But a lot of countries are currently force Intermediaries, which promotes the use
pursuing the cluster concept, and with similar of a long-term job coach who works with all
anchor projects in mind. So, when contacting parties to help the employee/employer rela-
potential investors for that critical auto assem- tionship succeed.
bly anchor project, NBD wanted to be able to Back in the Kingdom they discovered that
make the strongest pitch (or value proposition) many of the organizations required to address
possible. To do that they would have to know the labor issues already existed. The problem

exactly what they were selling and match Communities near was that these organizations were fragmented.
it exactly to what their investors wanted. industrial complexes
For NBD, it was a matter of working with the
draw employees and
A study was conducted to develop the their families. At right: community, the government and the service
exact right value proposition. NBD needed to Saudi Aramco Marine providers to connect the dots.
Department employees
know what would make an auto manufactur- engage in on-the-job What NBD envisioned was a total solution
er want to establish a plant in the Kingdom, training in Yanbu‘. that would make it easy for investors to hire
and any reasons why it wouldn’t. and train Saudi workers, thereby mitigating
One thing that came out of this study was an aware- the risk they perceived in establishing a business in the
ness of several difficulties around the issue of skilled labor. Kingdom. They wanted to create an entity that would
The manufacturing sector in Saudi Arabia isn’t yet recruit, assess and then train Saudi workers to meet the
highly developed, which means there isn’t a large talent investors’ criteria in terms of skills and certifications. That
pool upon which to draw. So if an automobile manufac- entity would then have a pool of trained individuals that
turer was initially interested in Saudi Arabia as a site for a the investors could come and select from. In addition,
manufacturing plant because of the Kingdom’s advantage the worker would start out being on the entity’s payroll,
materials, the next thing they would want to know is, and if they worked out, they would be transferred to the
“Where are the skilled workers? How do I recruit them? employer’s payroll.
How can I afford to hire them when they cost too much A program called LaborCo was recently endorsed by

Spring 2009 9
the Ministry of Labor and is currently being developed by research and development in order to overcome any barrier
the NICDP. And with this program, an investor company that might keep a manufacturer from coming to Saudi
would only have to go to one place — a sort of one-stop Arabia; or worse, coming for a few years and then leaving.
shop — to meet all of its business/labor/training needs.
THE HAND-OFF

I
That is just one more reason why potential
investors can have confidence that, when n 2008, the NICDP steering committee
they come, they will have employees who evolved into a board of directors. Both
want to work and are willing to work to the NICDP and its new board now report
be successful. to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Another issue to be addressed was avail- At this point, Saudi Aramco officially handed
able land for cluster businesses. “It’s not the off its work on the cluster program, though
land itself,” said Al-Aydh, “but you need it will continue to provide support on an
roads, you need power, you need water, com- as-needed basis.
munications — all the support infrastructure. “I feel very proud of our people for their

So for the investor who wants to build a Vibrant communities great efforts to support the program,” Al-
smaller facility, it would be too expensive for evolve around and near Judaimi said. “And through them I feel that
Saudi industrial cities,
him to develop the land and build the facility providing housing, retail Saudi Aramco has left a positive imprint on
with power and all that. Okay, we will devel- services, jobs, cultural the program.”
sites and recreational
op the land so all they have to do is build the amenities for workers
The Kingdom is determined to diversify
facility and plug in. So let’s say that I am a car and their families. its economy, which it must do in order to
manufacturer; if I can come and see that there become like a tree that has many roots —
is developed land with all the facilities that I need, and I and, thus, is hard to topple.
look around and I see that there are conversion facilities Al-Judaimi noted that, “Not only will we have diversifi-
being built in Ras Tanura or Rabigh and these are produc- cation, but we will have diversity. Because we will see dif-
ing products that I will be using, things will fall into place ferent people from different countries coming to invest.
and it will be easier for them to make the decision to come And you will see major industries like auto manufacturing
and build and invest.” come. When one comes, it will bring all the other small to
It won’t stop there. Work continues to combine agencies medium industries that form the rest of the value chain.”
that deal with financing, trade issues, regulations, and The focus of the cluster program is on downstream

10 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

value-added manufacturing. And while all the “Sweet entice big manufacturers to the set up shop within its bor-
Spot” industries leverage certain things within the King- ders. It’s a global marketplace and the stakes are high —
dom (advantage materials, inexpensive energy, feedstocks, potentially billions of dollars of investment and hundreds
etc.), they’re not oil and gas. So the cluster concept fits of thousands of direct and indirect jobs. It will take focus
nicely with some of the other diversification efforts that and dedication to increase the probability of capturing
are currently being pursued by the government — like some of those opportunities. That’s part of the continuing
financial services. work to be done. The cluster program is the framework
At the time of this that allows the Kingdom
writing, NICDP is in to not only attract poten-
negotiations with a tial investors, but to set
European auto manufac- them up for sustainable
turer and has signed a growth. Creating the
memorandum of under- conditions for success for
standing (MOU) with a these potential investors
Japanese truck manufac- will, in turn, assure the
turer to build factories in success of the country’s
the Kingdom. The pro- young workforce.
gram has also signed two “It’s very important to
MOUs with international build that first project,”
white-goods manufactur- Al-Judaimi said. “Then
ers to explore investment people will see that
opportunities in refriger- NICDP is delivering.
ator manufacturing in Get that first project
the country, as well as running, get that first
another MOU with an car that says ‘Made in
international mining Saudi Arabia,’ and you
company to study the will see so many people
feasibility of developing coming. And more
a 400,000-ton-per-year will follow.”
aluminum rolling mill. In a relay race, the
Technical jobs are last lap is run by the
highly sought after by anchor — the team
the country’s young peo- member most likely to
ple. They’re the types carry the team’s effort
of jobs that can become to victory. Like the baton
careers. If the cluster in a relay race, the cluster
program is successful, companies will set up Industrial cities need program has been handed off to the anchor,
transportation infra-
manufacturing facilities and hire Saudis. the Saudi government, for the final leg of the
structure, such as ports,
These young Saudis will have the opportunity to deliver their products race. “There are hurdles in the way,” said Al-
to work up the management chain not only to markets worldwide. Aydh. “But they are not so tall that we can’t
within the facility here in Saudi Arabia, but jump them.”
they may actually become strong contributors to the com- Though Saudi Aramco will continue to play a support-
pany globally. You have to start somewhere. More impor- ing role, it is now up to the government to make the final
tantly, you have to start. sprint across the finish line — to applause and cheers of
But Saudi Arabia is not the only country seeking to Saudi workers across the country. ■

Spring 2009 11
 A NEW FRIEND
IN CHINA
SAUDI ARAMCO DELIVERS
FIRST OIL SHIPMENT
TO PETROCHINA REFINERY

Wr i t t e n b y D e l s h a d K u m a n a

12 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

D
H A H R A N , S A U D I A R A B I A — When the became a dominant global manufacturing hub and at
Olympic Legend sailed majestically into a time when its crude oil imports were relatively small,
Dalian Xingang port in northeastern China Saudi Aramco had already foreseen the enormous growth
in August 2008, carrying its precious cargo potential in the Chinese market and established a sales
of two million barrels of Arabian Light, it was a high- and marketing subsidiary office — Saudi Petroleum Ltd.
water mark for Saudi Aramco. The tanker was trans- — in Beijing in 1998. Last year, Saudi Aramco accounted
porting Saudi Aramco’s first delivery of crude oil to for 16.5 percent of China’s total crude imports, and cur-
PetroChina’s Dalian refinery, heralding the beginning rently supplies roughly 750,000 barrels per day (bpd)
of a long-term supply agreement between the world’s of crude oil. Further cementing these trade ties, the two
largest oil-producing company and China’s largest oil countries recently signed memoranda of understanding
and gas producer and distributor. that envision imports exceeding one million bpd by 2010,
The dignitaries gathered at the dock to celebrate the and 1.5 million bpd by 2015.
arrival of the ship were witnessing a step change in trade
relations between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the At right: The
Olympic Leg-
People’s Republic of China. It was especially significant for end, carrying two
Saudi Aramco — because, thanks to the new agreement, million barrels of
Arabian Light crude,
the company is now the supplier of choice to both titans berths at the Dalian
of China’s petroleum industry, PetroChina and Sinopec. Xingang Port.
While Saudi Aramco’s relationship with PetroChina is Below: PetroChina
Dalian Petro-
new, its relationship with Sinopec goes back many years. Chemical Co. faces
Sinopec’s business interests encompass oil and gas explo- Dalian City, a heavy-
industry metropolis,
ration, refining, and marketing, as well as the production across Dalian Bay.
and sales of petrochemicals. In fact, years before China

Spring 2009 13
 Elaborating on the growing and mutually beneficial Sino-foreign projects involving refining, petrochemicals,
trade relationship between the two countries, Mohammed and marketing. The joint ventures have a total invest-
S. Madi, regional vice president in charge of Saudi Petro- ment of approximately $5 billion, and will benefit not
leum Limited-Beijing, says: “On the one hand, you have only Fujian Province but the whole of China.
the largest nation on Earth and are a rapidly developing The Fujian Refining and Ethylene Project, the refining
economic superpower, while on the other you have the and petrochemicals joint venture located in Quanzhou,
steward of the world’s largest resource base of conven- will expand the existing refinery from 80,000 barrels per
tional crude oil and its biggest oil producer and exporter. day to 240,000 barrels per day. The upgraded refinery
The future of that relationship is of central importance will primarily refine and process sour Arabian crude.
not only to our two societies, but to the entire global eco- The joint-venture company, formally registered as Fujian
nomic system. At Saudi Aramco, we are honored to play Refining & Petrochemical Company Ltd., is owned by
a major part in fueling China’s continued journey toward Fujian Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (50 percent), ExxonMobil
ever greater prosperity for its people, and to ensure that China Petroleum and Petrochemical Co. Ltd. (25 per-
its growing petroleum and petrochemical needs are met cent), and Saudi Aramco Sino Co. Ltd. (25 percent). It
reliably and responsibly.” began operations in June 2007.
Abdulrahman A. Yousef, chief representative of A month later, Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Co.
Aramco Overseas Co. in Shanghai, echoes these senti- Ltd., the marketing joint venture, was launched. Sinopec
ments. “We are building strong, long-term relationships SenMei uses the Sinopec, Esso and Saudi Aramco corpo-
with leading Chinese petroleum companies. Historically, rate logos and trademarks on its flagship service stations
our most fruitful partnership has been with Sinopec. The — the first time that service stations outside Saudi Arabia
relationship between our two companies is a model of have carried the company’s icon and trademarks. The
synergy, and shows what is possible when two leading Saudi Aramco energy-burst design logos are now embla-
firms join forces, combining their respective strengths zoned on more than 30 flagship stations across China.
and expertise in a wide variety of endeavors.”
E X PA N D I N G I T S B A S E

W
TWO JOINT VENTURES idening its customer base, Saudi Aramco is

I
n Fujian Province, Saudi Aramco has entered into now a major player in PetroChina’s Dalian
two joint ventures, one focusing on the expansion refinery project. The Dalian refinery, in
of an existing Sinopec refinery, the other centered on June 2008, commissioned its new 200,000-bpd crude
the distribution of fuel. In February 2007, the Kingdom- oil distillation unit and several secondary units for sour
based Saudi Aramco Sino Co. signed landmark agree- crude oil processing. At the welcoming ceremony for
ments with Sinopec Corporation, ExxonMobil and the the Olympic Legend at the Dalian Xingang Terminal,
Fujian provincial government on the first fully integrated Madi addressed the assembled guests in Chinese. Congrat-
ulating the refinery team on the suc-
A Saudi Aramco cessful start-up of the facility’s new
billboard promotes units, he added: “This shipment
the company on
of crude oil from Saudi Arabia
busy Xianyue Road
in Xiamen, Fujian to Dalian — the first of many to
Province, China. come — not only underscores Saudi
Aramco’s sustained commitment to
the Chinese market, but also ushers in a new phase in the
relationship between Saudi Aramco and PetroChina.”
As the China Daily reported: “Saudi Aramco has been
at the forefront of cooperation with Chinese firms and
energy institutions, and remains deeply committed to
meeting China’s energy needs.”
The true measure of that commitment is Saudi Aramco’s
biggest investment in the People’s Republic — human

14 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

resources. “More than a decade Above: Executive Director of Marketing
Supply and Joint Venture Coordination
ago, Saudi Aramco began sending Dawood Al-Dawood (sitting third from
students to China not only to get left) with Aramco representatives from
a fine university education, but Fujian Refinery and Petrochemical Co.,
Saudi-Sino Co. (AOC Xiamen) and Asia
also to learn the language, expe- Join Venture Department (Hong Kong),
rience the culture and to get to and Saudi Aramco students in Xiamen.
At right: Two Saudi Aramco chemical
know the people,” Madi says. engineering students at Xiamen
“The first graduates from these University — Mohanad Zakari, left,
programs are now found hard at and Rami Abualfaraj.

work throughout Saudi Aramco,

both in the Kingdom and in China, and a new group of supplies such as pipes, valves, and industrial equipment.
young students have taken their place in the classrooms The Hong Kong office oversees the Fujian project and all
of Chinese universities. I believe that by sending some Asian joint ventures. The Tokyo offices handle crude oil
of the best and brightest of our new generation to China and product sales support activities in Japan, Korea and
to study, Saudi Aramco is continually recommitting itself Taiwan, as well as sourcing and contracting operations.
to the future of our relationship with China, and better The Singapore office oversees sales and marketing sup-
enabling us to meet the long-term challenges we will port for South Asia, while the Kuala Lumpur office han-
face together.” dles procurement and contracting for that region.
Saudi Aramco has set its sights firmly on Asian mar-
kets, and does not confine itself to China. At present, the SHIFT IN TRADE BALANCE

T
company is the number one supplier of crude to Japan, he balance of trade is clearly shifting, with Far
India and Korea, as well as China. Apart from offices Eastern markets now making up 50 percent of
in Beijing, the company has affiliate offices in Shanghai, Saudi Aramco’s clientele. Recognizing the spe-
Hong Kong, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. The cial relationship with Asian markets, the company has
Beijing office handles sales and marketing in China. The embarked on an “Asian Business and Culture Pro-
Shanghai office is mainly a sourcing office for Chinese gram,” where up-and-coming Saudi managers have the

Spring 2009 15
 Mohammed S. opportunity to gain — a figure which we view with a sense of pride, of course,
Al-Madi, Regional
first-hand experi- but also with an overwhelming sense of responsibility,
Vice President
and Chief Repre- ence of the region, knowing how much is riding on our ability to provide
sentative of the and to become bet- a reliable supply of crude oil to this market.”
Saudi Petroleum
Ltd. Beijing Office. ter acquainted with The secret of Saudi Aramco’s success is that it does not
its various societies, view these diverse markets as monolithic, but recognizes
economies and cultures. that each has its own unique dynamic. The company is
Addressing a conference in Tokyo for aware, for example, that Japan and Korea have massive
Japan’s next generation of business lead- demand but are already mature markets with relatively
ers, Adel A. Al-Tubayyeb, Saudi Aramco low growth. India and China, on the other hand, started
Vice President for Marketing and Supply off as smaller markets, but are now growing very quickly.
Planning, said: “Some of your companies have been val-
ued Saudi Aramco customers for many years, while others IMPRESSIVE GROWTH IN INDIA

T
have been providing Saudi Aramco with vital engineering he Indian economy has shown impressive
or financial services for decades. We have well-established growth over the past decade, and has become
and solid relationships with Japanese petroleum compa- a significant consumer of energy resources.
nies, petrochemical firms like Sumitomo Chemical, and Although blessed with its own crude oil reserves off the
world-class engineering enterprises like JGC and Chiyoda. western coast near Mumbai, the combination of stag-
“Oil accounts for roughly 48 percent of Japan’s energy nant production levels and rapidly rising oil consump-
consumption, and virtually all of this country’s crude oil tion has left India increasingly dependent on imports.
needs are met through imports — nearly 90 percent of Saudi Aramco supplies crude oil to India’s Big Five
which come from the Arabian Gulf region. Saudi Aramco petroleum companies — the Indian Oil Corporation,
accounts for nearly 30 percent of Japan’s crude oil imports Reliance Petroleum, the Mangalore Refinery, Bharat

‘A T S A U D I A R A M C O , W E A R E H O N O R E D T O P L AY A M A J O R
PA RT I N F U E L I N G C H I N A ’ S C O N T I N U E D J O U R N E Y T O WA R D
E V E R G R E AT E R P R O S P E R I T Y F O R I T S P E O P L E .’
— Mohammed S. Al-Madi, regional vice president
in charge of Saudi Petroleum Limited-Beijing

16 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

Petroleum and Hindustan Khalid A. Al-Falih,
then executive vice
Petroleum. president of Saudi
One issue that haunts Aramco, at left, listens
some energy-importing to a briefing about
the retail gas-station
nations is their growing business of Sinopec
reliance on oil imports. SenMei, a marketing
joint-venture com-
Could dependence pany among Sinopec,
on imports lead to eco- Saudi Aramco and
nomic vulnerability and ExxonMobil). Al-Falih
became president and
potential conflict with CEO on Jan. 1, 2009.
other consuming na- Below: The Fujian
Refinery and Ethylene
tions? According to Adel Project (FREP) site in
Al-Tubayyeb, “Imports December 2008.
act as a force for greater
interdependence among nations, a force for greater Producers will always need consumers every bit as much
regional and global stability, and a spur to greater trade as consumers need producers.”
and cooperation among countries and their commercial The growing Asian markets — both as consumers and
sectors. Strong trading relationships can be mutually providers of consumer goods — are living proof that
beneficial, and allow nations and economies to focus trade is the lifeblood of global economies. In centuries
on their areas of relative strength and make the most past, traders spoke of the perils and profitability of the
of their competitive advantages, whether those are ancient Silk Route. Today’s trade route traverses the
resources, infrastructure, cost, technology, human oceans, where a fleet of modern oil tankers enable Saudi
and financial capital, or even geographical location. Aramco to ride the crest of the “oil wave.” ■

Spring 2009 17
 K i l i m a
Saudi Aramcons conquer
Photos by
Mike Hulver

M OUNT KILIMANJARO, Tanzania

— For Saudi Aramco employee Kent
Norton’s 50th birthday, he and seven
friends and kin from Dhahran and the United States —
plus 20 porters, three guides and a cook — hiked 42 kilo-
meters (more than 26 miles) to the top of Mount Kiliman-
trekkers Norton (of the Area Exploration Department), Mike
Hulver and Marty Robinson (also from Area Exploration),
Tom Loretto (Reservoir Characterization), Karl Kleemeir (Cor-
porate Planning) and Bruce Burwell (Remote Sensing). Joining
the Dhahran group from the United States were Norton’s
sister Jackie Taylor and Robinson’s stepson Merle Stephey.
jaro, the stately volcano that is the roof of Africa. With a slight variation, the group elected to follow the
Kilimanjaro is in the same time zone as Dhahran, but, popular Marangu Route, sometimes referred to as the “Coca
at 5,895 meters (19,341 feet) high, is somewhat higher, and Cola Route,” to the summit, which normally takes five days
with temperatures dipping as low as minus 10 degrees Fahren- and four nights. The modification made was the addition of
heit, somewhat cooler. But, like Sir Edmund Hillary, the first an extra night to camp in the crater so the trekkers would
man to summit Mount Everest, the Dhahran/U.S. trekkers have some additional time to explore the caldera, the vol-
decided to climb Kilimanjaro because, “It was there.” cano’s crater structure, including its floor. The route is so
The expedition, which began on October 12, 2007, was named because soft drinks and other beverages are sold
supported by a professional crew from Allan William Trek- to hikers by rangers at three stations on that path up the
king Agency of Arusha, Tanzania, and included Dhahran mountain, and the prices rise with the altitude.

Above: Mt. Mawenzi, an eroded volcanic peak, is viewed from the crater rim as it looms from the southeast flank of Mt. Kilimanjaro.
Below, from left: (1) The trekkers, from left, Karl Kleemeier, Tom Loretto (nearly obscured), Merle Stephey, Jackie Taylor, Bruce Burwell,
Kent Norton and assistant guide Amani stroll up the trail through the high-altitude desert on Day 3. (2) A porter carries cargo on his
head on the Marangu Route. (3) Trekkers employed “boot skiing” to descend the upper slopes.

1 2 3
n j a r O
Africa’s highest peak

En route to the summit on Day 2, the group observed blue was experiencing mild symptoms of altitude sickness, the
and colobus monkeys in the trees before leaving the rain-for- food and opportunity to rest were much welcome. The camp
est environment below the 2,800-meter (9,186-foot) elevation was located at the base of the caldera’s central ash pit and
and entering heath and moorland, where trees are mostly near one of four glaciers at the summit.
absent and flora mainly grasses, small shrubs, heather and The next day, the group climbed back up to the crater rim
the very distinctive groundsell tree (Senecio kilimanjaro). and then hiked to Uhruru Peak (5895 meters, 19,341 feet),
At around 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) on Day 3, the hikers the highest point on Kilimanjaro. It was a clear beautiful day
entered “a very desolate alpine desert characterized by an with fantastic views all around. After the leg-pounding, two-
almost complete lack of vegetation.” day descent from Kilimanjaro, head guide Alan William pre-
Because the oxygen thins in such high altitudes, the guides sented everyone with a certificate attesting to their achieve-
started constantly urging the trekkers to proceed “pole pole,” ment, which was received with pride and satisfaction.
Swahili for “slowly slowly,” as the slope sharply steepened. The trekkers reported that the Kilimanjaro climb is not
After reaching the crater rim on Day 4, the group went technically difficult but physically challenging because of its
over the lip of the caldera and began the two-hour descent to steepness in the last 4,000 feet and the thinness of oxygen at
the crater floor, where porters had already set up tents and its altitude. As such, they said, “pole pole” was the most
prepared dinner. Because everyone in the Dhahran/U.S. group excellent piece of advice they received.

Below, from left: (4) This Colobus monkey was spotted in the rain forest on the lower slopes. (5) Trekker Tom Loretto displays the lunch
spread on Day 3 near the base of Mt. Mawenzi. (6) Marty Robinson thanks head guide Allan William for a job well done.

4 5 6

Spring 2009 19
 2 3

1
 6
4 5
7 9

8
10 11

12

This Day 5 panoramic view of the caldera floor shows the central ash cone,
glaciers and campsite as the trekkers ascend the crater rim en route to Uhuru
Peak. Marty Robinson and guides are visible in the lower left corner. Top, from
left: (1) Karl Kleemeier rests and dines after his ascent of the crater rim on
Day 4. (2) Jackie Taylor signs the Horombo Huts (3,720-meter elevation) reg-
istry at the end of Day 2. (3) Tom Loretto captures Mt. Kilimanjaro’s spectacu-
lar beauty. (4) Day 4 campsite within the caldera, within walking distance of
one of Kilimanjaro’s glaciers. (5) Trekking tips posted at the entrance to the
Marangu Route, Kilimanjaro National Park. (6) Head guide Allan William and
his brother and assistant Amani take a break. (7) Marty Robinson, main logistics
organizer for the trip. (8) Trekkers climb through alpine vegetation approaching
Horombo Huts near the end of Day 2. (9) Head guide and company owner
Allan William. (10) Kent Norton, who organized the trip for his 50th birthday.
(11) Jackie Taylor, Norton’s sister. (12) The victorious trekkers, including the
photographer of this feature, Mike Hulver, far right, celebrate with a Saudi
Aramco banner at Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro’s highest point. ■

Spring 2009 23
Arabian Knight
Japanese scholar’s fascination with Mideast
forged enduring Saudi-Japanese relations

Written by Khalid Altowelli

TOKYO — Ninety-two-year-old Takashi Omar Hayashi of
Japan can’t remember when he wasn’t mesmerized by the
Middle East and all things Arab.
Born in 1916 in Tokyo, Hayashi literally grew up listen-
ing to the centuries-old tales from the ancient, classical col-
lection of traditional stories known as “One Thousand and
One Nights,” which came to be widely known as, simply,
“Arabian Nights.” Every night, Hayashi’s mother read him
a bedtime story from the collection.
In a profound way, this literary experience predicted the
trajectory of his entire adult life and career. And it made
Saudi Arabia a major waypoint in his life.
It turns out, Hayashi was just a man ahead of his time.

Saudi-Japanese ties expand

oday, in part thanks to pioneering groundwork laid by

T Hayashi many years ago, Saudi-Japanese relations are

evolving on many levels, stimulating profound, bilateral
interest in each other’s culture, business, industry and
technology. It is a natural evolution: Saudi Arabia is Japan’s
largest oil supplier via Saudi Aramco, which has embarked
on multibillion-dollar projects and partnerships with
Japanese corporations. Currently, hundreds of Saudi stu-
dents are receiving their education in Japanese universities,
including some of the company’s best and brightest poten-
tial future employees under its College Degree Program for

Takashi Omar Hayashi, 92, at right and on opposite page, sorts

memoirs and takes notes during an interview. Japanese-Saudi
relations are strong and evolving today, thanks to pioneering
groundwork by Hayashi over many years working in the Kingdom.

24 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

 PHOTOS BY KHALID AL-TOWELLI

Spring 2009 25
Non-Employees (CDPNE). In addition, Arabic is being for the Arab world inside Hayashi that led him in later
introduced as an elective foreign language in Japanese years on a physical and intellectual journey to the Mid-
primary schools. dle East, which transformed his life and world outlook.
Saudi Aramco has been a significant player in the devel- Hayashi’s mother’s fascination with Arab culture
oping relationship between Japan and Saudi Arabia in the enchanted him, as well. Taking advantage of a Japanese
past and present, and it appears the company will continue government scholarship in 1937, the then 21-year-old
to play that key role in the future — a future that holds Hayashi traveled across the world to Cairo to begin the first
enormous potential, according to Faisal Trad, the Saudi step of his journey at the University of Cairo’s College of
ambassador to Japan. Trad this year coordinated a weeklong Arts and Literature. During that educational trip to Cairo,
series of events in Tokyo, from June 17–23, titled “Saudi he changed his first name to Omar and converted to Islam.
Days,” hosted and organized by Waseda University to
complement this new era of mutual exchange. The event
saw the participation of Saudi Aramco; Petro Rabigh, a
Saudi Aramco and Sumitomo oil refinery and petro-
chemical joint venture; and the King Abdullah
University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

Three years later, Hiyashi had mastered Arabic and was

on his way back home armed with a new language and
full of ambition to introduce Arab culture and ideas in his
This new, cooperative era and the bright future the Ambas- homeland in a meaningful way.
sador talked about wouldn’t have been possible without the For the next five years after his return from Cairo,
people who laid the foundation for these relations decades Hayashi lectured at Osaka University’s school of foreign
ago. One of those pioneers is Takashi Hayashi, whose per- languages and at Kyoto Imperial University. During that
sonal interest in Arabic culture opened many doors for him time in Osaka, he also embarked on a project to produce
and allowed him to play an important role in the history of an Arabic-Japanese dictionary.
this vibrant relationship. “I had accumulated around 50,000 words for the project
and built the copper plates to print it,” Hayashi told a
Bedtime stories from Arabian Nights reporter at the “Saudi Days” event in Tokyo in June.
ayashi was just a year-old toddler when World War I Sadly, his Japanese-Arabic dictionary materials were

H ended, and in the next few years after that murderous

and destructive war, young Hayashi listened to exotic
tales of Arabia from his mother’s Arabian Nights collec-
tion. Those bedtime stories triggered an interest and a passion
unable to survive World War II, as Allied bombing raids in
Osaka incinerated the old city’s mostly wooden structures
over huge areas, also destroying Hayashi’s copper plates for
printing his beloved Arabic-Japanese dictionary. His four

Hayashi’s work and friendships allowed him to move in the upper strata of government and business. Above left: Hayashi, facing at
right, helps translate at a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saudi Al-Faisal, middle. Above right: Hayashi, at the celebration
marking the first Arabian Oil Co. Ltd. (AOC) oil shipment, at Khafji, in April 1961, represents AOC as general manager.

26 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

long years of labor literally went up in smoke. between Nikagomo, a rubber manufacturer in Kyushu, and
“I never attempted to recreate the dictionary,” Hayashi the Sudanese Ministry of Education to supply students with
said. “The economics of post-World War Japan did not rubber footwear. During that same 1954 visit, Hayashi
allow it.” When the war ended, Hayashi, then 29, started landed in Saudi Arabia for the first time to help a Saudi
his own family. To support them, he decided to move from businessman in Jeddah import Japanese textiles.
academia to business, still relaying on his knowledge of However, that trip would not be his last. In 1957, he
Arabic and of Mideast culture. He turned from university helped host Sheikh Fahad Al-Salim Al-Subah of Kuwait on
lecturer to business scout, where he sought out commercial his visit to Japan. “By the time his trip was over, the sheikh
opportunities in the Mideast for Japanese businessmen, and had decided to use Japanese ship builders to build the very
eventually also became a much-sought-after translator for first mammoth Kuwaiti oil tanker, with a capacity of 46,000
movers and shakers. tons,” Hayashi said proudly. “The deal cost 3.2 billion yen
and was paid immediately in full,” he added.

He first took a job with

Japanese industrial giant
Mitsubishi as head of its
Middle East division and
began making trips to the
area in 1954 to learn more
about its business potential
and requirements. In Egypt,
the place where he learned
Arabic, he came back deter-
mined to help eradicate a
disease that had haunted its people for ages. Bilharzias was A critical need for capital
contracted through bathing in water from the Nile Delta, apan in that period, says Hayashi, was in desperate
and Hayashi managed to convince the Egyptians that the
risk could be reduced by using cast iron pipes to hygieni-
cally transport water from the Nile to homes across Egypt.
The pipes were imported from Japan. He also convinced
a Japanese firm to invest $8.5 million in building a sugar
J need of financial capital to support its postwar econo-
my and rebuilding efforts. The Middle East had that
capital and was willing to spend it in return for tech-
nology, commerce and industry, and that is why Hayashi’s
role was so important. He had the ability to communicate
plant in the upper Nile, where huge amounts of surplus with both sides and bring them together. But others in
Egyptian sugarcane were being dumped. Japan had their eyes on what is more than just capital;
In the Sudan, he managed to secure a $5 million deal they were looking for energy, and the Arabian Gulf

Above left: Hayashi, second from right, met with Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone during a visit to Saudi Arabia in 1973.
Above right: Hayashi confers with Saudi King Faisal bin Abdulaziz in Japan in 1971.

Spring 2009 27
region began to show strong potential to deliver that criti- Abdallah as crown prince and remembers that he donated
cal commodity. generously to the Japanese Muslim Association. He recalls
In early 1957, negotiations for an oil concession between a later meeting with Abdullah in Japan when he was king.
the Japan Petroleum Trading Co. Ltd. and the Saudi govern- Hayshi also met Crown Prince Sultan in Japan in 1960.
ment began, resulting in 1958 in creation of the Arabian
Oil Co. Ltd. joint venture to manage the concession. Watches from kings
Hayashi says that the chief executive at AOC at the time ne reporter noted that in two interviews with Hayashi
worked very hard to convince Hayashi’s Mitsubishi boss
to transfer him from Mitsubishi to AOC, realizing his cul-
tural expertise would be valuable there. Faced with strong O in Tokyo, he wore a different golden watch each time;
he said they were both royal presents. While drinking
tea with his elegant, traditional Japanese manners, he
explained: “The first watch was from King Faisal, and
the second was from King Khalid, and both had the
royal initials on them.” Now physically frail at 92
but still well-dressed, Hayashi remains mentally sharp
and full of energy and determination to continue

resistance, Hayashi wasn’t able to move until the

Mitsubishi chief died a few years later. Hayashi
then became an advisor to the head of AOC until
1964, when he was appointed general manager of
AOC, became a member of the board of directors and pursuing his goal of bringing the Arab World and Japan
moved to Saudi Arabia — a move that lasted 17 years, closer together. But he dotes on his family, including son
until 1981. Tamotzo, who is now a surgeon working from a private
During that period, Hayashi played a role beyond his clinic in Tokyo, and daughter Izomi, an engineering pro-
responsibilities as the GM of AOC. Because of his knowl- fessor at the University of Shiga near Kyoto. Hayashi’s
edge in both languages and cultures, he was frequently pride in his personal accomplishments sometimes seeps
called upon to translate among the Saudi and Japanese offi- through his natural humility and gentle personality, but he
cials. “I met King Saud around five times and King Faisal immediately feels compelled to utter the words astaghferu
more than ten times.” Hayashi said. Most of those encoun- allah, a begging of God’s forgiveness for such a transgres-
ters were to translate between the Saudi royals and visiting sion of virtue.
Japanese delegations, emperors, prime ministers or minis- But his achievements are quickly noted by others.
ters. Hayashi also remembers King Faisal’s visit to Japan in In his keynote speech at Waseda University of Tokyo as
May 1971. He also met King Fahad in Janadriyah, when part of “Saudi Days,” Saudi Aramco senior vice president
he was crown prince. Hayashi recalls a meeting with King for Industrial Relations Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal said:

Above left: Saudi King Saud bin Abdulaziz greets Hayashi at an official reception in 1957. Above right: Hayashi, third from left in back
row, joins other members of a joint Saudi-Japanese delegation at his home in Riyadh in 1968. In middle is former Saudi Minister of
Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ahmed Zaki Yamani.

28 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

 “During one of my earlier visits to this country,
I had the privilege of meeting with a legend in the
Japanese petroleum industry, Mr. Takashi Hayashi,
and hearing first-hand about programs launched to
bring the people of the two countries together. The
seeds which Hayashi-san and his generation planted
have grown and matured, and today Saudi Aramco
sponsors dozens of young people to attend some of
Japan’s finest universities, learning about the world
of science and engineering while gaining a deeper
appreciation for Japan and its unique society.”
Al-Khayyal told a packed auditorium that rela-
tionships between the two countries go beyond the
purely commercial realm: “Cooperation between
our two countries on petroleum issues has a long
history and covers many different facets of the oil
business. We have to begin, I believe, with the
strong commercial bonds that exist between
Saudi Aramco and this country’s leading petrole-
um enterprises. As Japan’s largest supplier, we are
proud of the role that our petroleum has played in
Japan’s tremendous economic success over the last
half century, and we remain committed to supply-
ing the crude oil and petroleum products that
Japanese consumers need to maintain their way
of life. We opened our first office in Japan nearly
a quarter-century ago, and during that time we
have worked to build strong relations with the
Japanese petroleum sector.”

Links strong but subtle

ndeed, relations have been soaring beyond the

I commercial realm, and fundamental connections

are often subtle. In the early 1980s, Saudi TV
was one of many Arab TV stations to run a
daily cartoon series about a young Sinbad and his
amazing adventures around the world. The series
was the first Arabic-language, Arab-themed ani-
mated production to ever appear on Saudi TV,
and it got Saudi children glued to the screen. Very
few Saudi children at the time knew that their
favorite Arabic cartoon show was actually made
in Japan. Today, Saudi TV is running a popular
Japanese daytime drama set in imperial Japan and
PHOTO BY KHALID AL-TOWELLI

dubbed in Arabic. Some Saudis, through this pro-

gram, are being introduced to Japanese culture for
the very first time.
Hayashi’s affection for and interest in the Arab world is under-
And it all goes back to a young Japanese man who scored by the Arabic numerals on his watch. He has spent many
fell in love with the Middle East and Arab culture. ■ years strengthening and broadening Saudi-Japanese relations.

Spring 2009 29
D HAHRAN, Saudi Arabia — More than 500 former
Saudi Aramco employees and family members
converged in early March here at the company’s
world-headquarters community for the second Annuitants
Reunion held in the Kingdom (the first was in 2000).
1

It was an emotional, nostalgic gathering, because it

was the first time in decades that many of the annuitants
and their families had returned to Saudi Arabia. A rush of
memories greeted them.
The reunion, held March 9–19, included a dizzying array
of events and activities, such as visits to company com-
munities and facilities, special dinners, shopping, camel
rides, a motorcycle rally, meetings with president and CEO
Khalid Al-Falih and other top executives, music perform-
ances, an art show, and trips to Riyadh, Jiddah and the
mountainous and picturesque Asir region in the Southwest.
Retired Aramcon Ali Baluchi was general coordinator of
the massive event and chairman of the Reunion Organizing
Committee. Baluchi has attended annuitant reunions held
in the United States over the last 30 years. ■

(1) Craig “Dusty” Miller and his wife, Harriet, are all smiles
at a reunion gathering in Dhahran. Miller, an attorney, first
arrived in Dhahran in 1952 with his parents and brother, 2
Randy; his dad was in Benefits, and his mom hosted a cook-
ing show on Aramco TV in 1958–59. (2) Attending an annui-
tant event in Dhahran were, from right, president and
CEO Khalid Al-Falih; Mohammed Saeed Al-Ali,
a sponsoring businessman of the
reunion; and Anne Barger Hebert,
daughter of former president and CEO
Tom Barger. (3) At an annuitant gather-
ing at Sunset Beach, former Dhahran
School principal Bill Riley donned tradi-
tional Saudi attire for a photo with his
wife, Ernestine, and their daughters,
Crystal Brennan, left, and Kelly Healy,
right. (4) Former president and CEO
Abdallah S. Jum’ah enjoys a photo op
with John Tarbell, son of annuitants
Steve and Joanna Tarbell of Wellesley,
Massachusetts, in the United States.

4
30 Saudi Aramco Dimensions
3
 Photos by Stephen L. Brundage, Bert Seal and the Saudi Aramco Photo Unit

(5) Two annuitants visit Dhahran’s Well No. 7, the company’s first commercially productive well, which struck oil in 1938. (6) More than 300
motorcycles roared around Dhahran March 12 for the community’s 2nd annual bike rally. (7) Tears streamed down Essa Al-Dossary’s cheeks
as he reunited with long-time friend and former colleague Shaikh Amin, who was a company photographer. (8) Volunteer tour leader Nasrin
Fazrin, left, helps annuitants bargain for deals at the local gold souk. (9) Reunion volunteer tour leader Carolyn Collins asked former Aramco
photographer Bert Seal to take this photo of her by the iconic Hofuf fort. (10) Annuitant Handy Battenbough watches calves at the camel
market in Hofuf. (11) Former Aramco employee Ali Baluchi, chairman of the reunion organizing committee, has attended annual annuitant
reunions in the United States for 30 years.

11
10
9
8

12 13 14

(12) A man and boy take a flying leap off a sand dune at Half Moon Bay during a reunion fun day and barbecue there. (13) Among the many enter-
tainment events for visiting annuitants and their families was this Saudi traditional music troupe from the Eastern Province. (14) For many former
Aramcons and their families, sailing was a part of their lives in the Kingdom. So a chance to set sail in the Arabian Gulf waters at Ras Tanura or Half
Moon Bay was steeped with nostalgia.

Spring 2009 31
News Dimensi ns
RAFIE BIDS FAREWELL In 1992, he became vice president of Northern Area
Producing. In 1993, he became vice president of Employee
enior Vice President Mohamed Yusof Rafie, one of Relations and Training, followed in 1997 by an assign-
S Saudi Aramco’s most prominent and respected lead- ment as vice president of Petroleum Engineering and
Development.
ers, retired Dec. 31, 2008, after a sterling 38-year career
with the company. In June 2000, he was named senior vice president of
Originally from western Saudi Arabia, Rafie will admit Gas Operations, and in 2001, he became senior vice presi-
he didn’t know much about the Eastern Province when he dent of Industrial Relations. As the company’s gas explo-
was first hired. He began his career with Saudi Aramco in ration and production business expanded, he again was
chosen, in 2005, to lead the
Gas Operations business line
as its senior vice president.
“I believe in the people,”
Rafie said. And this spirited
generosity and compassion
for his employees is one of
the positive, lasting marks he
leaves behind.
“Yusof Rafie has reached
the pinnacle of great leader. His
devotion to the success of Saudi
Aramco and the country as a
whole is unsurpassed. He will
truly be missed,” said president
‘I believe in the people,’ Yusof Rafie, at left, said on his retirement
from Saudi Aramco. Above: Rafie and former president and CEO and CEO Abdallah S. Jum‘ah
Abdallah Jum‘ah, right, talk with a young girl at a company event. at a retirement gathering for
the departing Rafie.
1970 as an engineer and speaks fervently about his first Rafie has played an integral role in the petroleum
days with the company. “We chased rigs from one place industry. In addition to holding multiple positions within
to another,” he said. the company, Rafie has held membership on the board of
Rafie has had a long and prolific career, working in the General Organization of Social Insurance and the Socie-
various jobs in drilling and production operations. In ty of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), where he has been a direc-
1981, he was promoted to manager of the Ras Tanura tor of the Saudi Arabian section for the past 11 years and
Producing Department. became director of the Middle East Region in June 1997.
‘(Yusof Rafie’s) devotion In 1985, he was named During his entire career, he stressed diligent work and
general manager of useful achievement over position or status. His oft-stated
to the success of
Safaniyah Producing philosophy was “make your mark by working hard, lead-
Saudi Aramco and and, in 1986, general ing by example.”
the country as a manager of Petroleum Rafie studied at Cairo University, where he earned a
PHOTOS: SALAH A. AL-ALWAN

whole is unsurpassed.’ Engineering. bachelor of science degree in petroleum engineering, and

— ABDALLAH S. JUM‘AH In 1991, he served he later participated in two prestigious programs in the
as executive director of United States: the Management Development Program at
Petroleum Engineering and Development, and then held Georgetown University and the Executive Development
the same position in Northern Area Producing. Program at Cornell University.

32 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

Addressing members of SPE’s Saudi Arabia Section at the organization’s recent 50th anniversary gathering were president and
CEO Khalid Al-Falih, at left, and section chairperson Hiba Dialdin.

SPE SECTION CELEBRATES 50TH largest reserves of natural gas,” he said. “Because this
section plays such a distinctive role in the upstream seg-

A L-KHOBAR —The Saudi Arabia Section of the

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) celebrated
its 50th anniversary at a Jan. 26 dinner meeting.
ment of our business … there is a tremendous amount
riding on the work of this organization.”
Former chairperson Sami Neaim said of the section’s
“The wonderful turnout of our members is heart- 50 years, “During those years, the SPE grew very fast
warming and indicates that our growth is not just empty from few members to over 2,000 members and from a
numbers, but signifies an interested and involved mem- small section to one of the top three sections worldwide.
bership, eager to give and to benefit,” said section It grew from a society with limited resources and activi-
chairperson Hiba Dialdin, a Saudi Aramco petroleum ties to a society which won the SPE international Presi-
engineer and the only female SPE section chairperson dent’s Award for Excellence.”
outside North America.
“Today is a chance to honor the vision and foresight
of the founders of the Saudi Arabia Section of SPE — to PLATFORM FABRICATOR
thank the generations of men and women who helped to KINGDOM’S FIRST
build the organization and who steered it through peri-
ods of momentous change in our nation, in our industry
and in our companies,” Saudi Aramco president and
CEO Khalid A. Al-Falih told SPE members in his speech.
D AMMAM — A major new development is taking
shape at Dammam’s King Abdulaziz Port. Saudi
Aramco’s Offshore Projects Division recently celebrated
The group, formed Jan. 16, 1959, was the first SPE the beginning of fabrication activities for four offshore plat-
section outside North America. This anniversary, Al- forms at the newly constructed STAR Fabrication Facility.
Falih said, provides members the opportunity to reflect
on lessons of the past while looking to challenges of the A welder demonstrates his craft for visiting Saudi Aramco
officials at the new Star Fabrication Facility in Dammam,
future, as Saudi Aramco’s 75th Anniversary did in 2008.
which produces offshore platforms.
Al-Falih’s SPE speech was one of his first since he
became company president and CEO on Jan. 1, and
appropriately so, he noted, given the important relation-
ship between the company and SPE.
“Consider the incredible volume and value of the oil
and gas resources that have been entrusted to the mem-
bers of this section to steward: fully a fifth of the world’s
proven reserves of crude oil and the planet’s fourth
News Dimensi ns
It is Saudi Arabia’s first in-Kingdom offshore-facili- KAUST WELCOMES STUDENTS,
ties fabrication yard and the centerpiece of the new STAFF, FA CULTY TO UNIVERSITY
long-term agreement (LTA) contract awarded to a
consortium among Snamprogetti Saudi Arabia Ltd.,
Saipem, TAQA and Al-Rushaid Fabrications Co. Ltd.
(STAR).
J IDDAH — Hundreds of international and Saudi stu-
dents, faculty and staff of King Abdallah University of
Science and Technology (KAUST) descended on Jiddah as
The LTA required the contractor to build an in- 2009 began, with one goal in mind: to prepare for the start
Kingdom, full-service fabrication yard and offshore of school in September and to familiarize themselves with
support base capable of constructing the company’s Saudi society, with each other and with their university
increasing number of offshore well platforms and as it transforms from virtual status to physical existence.
pipelines. The STAR facility, covering 300,000 square During the week of activities, Jan. 4–11, the group
meters and capable of fabricating 14,000 metric tons heard from H.E. Ali I. Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum
of structural steel per year, will directly employ about and Mineral Resources, who told them that the biggest
900 workers, presenting significant opportunities for question on his mind since the development of KAUST
local employment and local businesses. began was “whether or not we would be able to attract
The entire facility, incorporating the latest in fabrica- the highest caliber of students and faculty.”
tion technologies, was engineered, procured and con- From the very beginning, he said, “We have set our
structed in just over one year. sights on reaching the bright-
Northern Area Projects est students, brimming with
Department manager Abdulaziz potential, from around the
I. Fallatah said, “In addition world, ready to learn from
to advancing Saudi Aramco’s their mentors and from one
business objectives, this new another, ripe to begin making
state-of-the-art facility also a contribution to the progress
achieves the company’s goals of humanity.”
of stimulating the Saudi eco- Al-Naimi said planners also
nomy and developing Saudi
nationals in the highly skilled Left: H.E. Ali I. Al-Naimi is joined
by Saudi Aramco president and
offshore fabrication industry.”
CEO Khalid A. Al-Falih and KAUST
Training of the initial group president Choon Fong Shih to
of Saudi nationals in skilled greet students who will begin
their studies at the new university
crafts has begun in earnest and in September. Below: Students
is proceeding according to plan. look over a model of the campus.

34 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

 500 JOIN TO CLEAN UP
QURAYYAH BEACH

Q URAYYAH — More than 500 participants from

‘Udhailiyah, Dhahran, Abqaiq and other locations
came together recently to put corporate social responsi-
bility to work, as the Sea Water Injection Department
(SWID) led other organizations in an Environmental Day
Even before school begins, a community feeling is being built
in a team-building workshop. and Clean-Up at Qurayyah Beach.
SWID manager Bahjat M. Zayed welcomed the partici-
have applied this singular objective with regard to pants for a day of activities that covered environmental
recruiting faculty. “As I stand here before more than education, cleaning, health and safety.
330 students who will make up part of the inaugural Zayed emphasized the importance of Qurayyah not
class of KAUST, I know that we have achieved one of only as a recreational facility but also as a source of
our goals.” water used in Saudi Aramco’s oil production. He said
Activities included visits to old Jiddah, museums, art the valuable resource was being threatened by an influx
galleries and malls, and sea trips. Students participated of marine debris.
in team-building workshops, experienced what life at The program started with a push to pick up debris
KAUST would look like and learned what they needed both on the beach and under the water. More than 957
to know about moving to its campus. kilograms of trash was collected, including dead aquatic
Faculty and students formed groups by fields of animals. Laine Espillo collected 50 kg of trash; Johnny
study to be introduced and to discuss curricula aimed at Dela Cruz, 47 kg; and Salman Al-Jassim, 44 kg. Under the
changing the traditional ways of learning and research. surface, the teams of Don Salera, Roslind Sadai and Mar
That’s another subject Al-Naimi raised, when he told Monforte collected 35.5 kg, and Waleed Saafarji and
the gathering, “KAUST is a catalyst for transforming Nada Al-Marhoon collected 32.3 kg. All won prizes for
Saudi Arabia into a knowledge society, and to establish their efforts.
the intellectual foundation that will generate new tech- Abqaiq, Ras Tanura, ‘Udhailiyah and Dhahran div-
nological innovations and groundbreaking scientific ing clubs all participated in the event, representing five
discoveries.” Al-Naimi also quoted King Abdallah’s nationalities and including the first female Saudi diver
description of KAUST as a source of knowledge that to take part.
will serve as a bridge between people and cultures. The second phase concentrated on educational activi-
Indeed, KAUST seemed to have reached its objectives ties, demonstrations and exhibits. The Marine Department
as it ended the orientation trip. In a festive environment,
the cultural bridges were constructed and were being Below left: Rashid Al-Dossary of the Abqaiq Dive Club picks up
soda cans that had been thrown in the water. Below right: Adil
crossed, long before the students were to begin post- Marghalani and his daughter Linah pick up trash at Qurayyah
graduate schooling Sept. 5. Beach, joining about 500 others in shared social responsibility.
More than 330
students and their
professors and
administration staff
from 60 nationalities
roamed around Saudi
Aramco’s recreational
facilities.
News Dimensi ns
brought an “Air Tractor” to show how Saudi Aramco FUJIAN RECEIVES 1ST SAUDI CRUDE
uses aircraft for quicker, more efficient treatment of oil
spills. They also brought the ‘Ain Dar 7, one of the largest
offshore emergency, deep-water, anti-pollution vessels in
the Middle East.
F UJIAN — The QingLanShan crude oil terminal at the
Fujian Refinery in China was inaugurated Feb. 16
with a ceremony and the arrival of the first cargo of
For many of the participants, it was the first and Saudi crude oil.
possibly only time they would see such equipment. The The QingLanShan terminal is the crude-oil receiving
Abqaiq Fire Department concluded the demonstrations port of the Fujian Refining and Petrochemical Co. Ltd.
by showing participants what to do when smoke or fire (FREP) joint venture. The terminal was built to handle very
break out at home or work. large crude carriers, those with a 300,000-ton capacity.
A large exhibition used information technology, com- FREP is developing a world-class integrated refining
bining video, audio and live presenters to educate visi- and petrochemical
tors. Industrial Services (Marine and Transportation ‘The arrival of the manufacturing com-
departments); Information Technology; Community Arabian crude oil to plex. It is being devel-
Services; Medical Services; Safety and Industrial Security oped jointly by Fujian
this terminal signifies
(Abqaiq Loss Prevention and Fire departments); and Petrochemical Co.
Engineering Services (Environmental Protection Depart-
Saudi Aramco’s supply Ltd., Saudi Aramco
ment) were among admin areas that contributed to the commitment as a Sino Co. Ltd. (SASC)
exhibition. shareholder.’ and ExxonMobil
Children competed to color a “You and Your Envi- — IBRAHIM AL-BUAINAIN China Petroleum
ronment” booklet, with Nuwaf A. Aziz, Carmella B. and Petrochemical Co.
Sabut and Eisaa Al-Saleebi declared winners. More Ltd, a joint venture established March 31, 2007.
prizes were awarded to those who completed an en- The 900,000-barrel cargo of Arabian Extra Light was
vironmental quiz developed by SWID. The winners carried by the tanker Cosbright Lake from Ras Tanura to
were Mariam Al-Sohaib, Rahat Tabassum, Shemookh the QingLanShan terminal, in the southeastern Chinese
Bugshan and Emad Al-Juaidan. Participants left laden province of Fujian.
with gifts, booklets and lots of information. The project, which includes a 240,000-barrel-per-day
Thanks went out to the Society of Advocates and refinery and will produce 2.2 million metric tons of petro-
Volunteers for the Environment and SWID employees chemicals a year, is in its final stage of construction.
for their vital involvement. The FREP expansion is expected to be onstream
during the first
half of this year.
Officials from
the local Fujian
government and

Officials from the

local Fujian govern-
ment, Sinopec and
shareholder repre-
sentatives, including
Saudi Aramco repre-
sentative Ibrahim Q.
Al-Buainain, cele-
brate the inaugura-
tion of the QingLan-
Shan terminal.
Sinopec, and shareholders’ representatives attended
the ceremony. On behalf of Saudi Aramco, Ibrahim
Q. Al-Buainain, director of Asia Joint Ventures,
delivered a speech to the assembled dignitaries,
congratulating the FREP-JV team on the successful
operation of the terminal.
“With the inauguration of this deep-water ter-
minal, FREP-JV is demonstrating its readiness to
help meet China’s domestic oil demand as well as
future demand. The graphic above outlines a new method of injecting corro-
sion inhibitor into gas streams. The patented invention means
“The arrival of the Arabian crude oil to this terminal
lower temperatures, fewer chemicals and less expense.
signifies Saudi Aramco’s supply commitment as a share-
holder, and I would like to assure you that a stream of Before the invention, the amount of chemical was
Saudi Arabian crude is now making its steady flow to manually controlled, sometimes resulting in too much
Fujian Province and that it will continue for many gener- or too little chemical being injected and subsequent
ations,” Al-Buainain said. pipeline repairs.
Since the chemicals cost millions of dollars a year, an
engineering team was assigned to look into what could be
INVENTION STREAMLINES done to reduce this cost without jeopardizing the safety
CORROSION PROTECTION of gas transfer lines.
After three years of research, they concluded that the

D HAHRAN — A new method of injecting corrosion

inhibitor into gas streams involves lower tempera-
tures, fewer chemicals and less cost, and it recently earned
gas temperature could be reduced to 54 degrees C, and,
since the amount of chemical required is dependent on the
gas temperature, the inhibitor could be reduced by 50 per-
the company U.S. Patent No. 7,452,390. cent without adverse effects on the plants.
The method, called “Controlled Superheating of Nat- Realizing that the process would require frequent
ural Gas for Transmission,” was invented by Hani H. changes to GOSP processes, the inventors designed an
Al-Khalifa of the North Ghawar Producing Department, automated system that reads parameters such as gas
Abdulrahman H. Al-Abdullatif of the Sea Water Injec-
tion Department, and former employees
Donald Delevan and Timothy Wilson.
Crude oil flows to 32 gas-oil separation
plants (GOSPs) in Southern Area Oil Opera-
tions. GOSPs separate oil from associated gas
and water. The oil goes to Abqaiq Plants, and
the associated gas goes to ‘Uthmaniyah and
Shedgum Gas Plants for further processing.
To protect hundreds of kilometers of gas-
transfer lines, a costly corrosion inhibitor
is injected into the stream before it leaves
the GOSPs.
The gas typically leaves the GOSP at 74 degrees C Co-inventors of the new process are Hani H. Al-Khalifa of
North Ghawar Producing, above right; Abdulrahman H. Al-
with 3.78 liters of enhanced corrosion inhibitor injected Abdullatif of Sea Water Injection, above left; and former
for every million standard cubic feet of gas. employees Donald Delevan and Timothy Wilson.

Spring 2009 37
News Dimensi ns
flow and temperature and calculates the optimum tem- HALF MARATHON DRAWS 11,000
perature. The new system then controls the amount of
corrosion inhibitor that is injected.
The invention, once implemented throughout the
company, is expected to reduce the amount of corrosion
H OUSTON — On Jan. 19, a record number of runners
turned out for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon
and began the 13.1-mile odyssey through the streets of
inhibitor by about 50 percent. But that’s not all. It also Houston and cheering crowds.
will ensure that gas transfer pipelines are always protected It was the fifth year that Aramco Services Co. (ASC)
without wasting expensive chemicals, the lower gas tem- has served as the race’s title sponsor, and it was the fifth
peratures will prolong the life of pipelines and facilities year of record-setting participation. Nearly 11,000 run-
and the drop in pressure will require less power. ners registered, and the race sold out in record time, six
months in advance.
“It is a great honor to support the Aramco Houston
‘UDHAILIYAH DIVERSITY Half Marathon as it grows in size and stature, and to
see so many positive values in action — a commitment to
Saudi Aramco community ‘Udhailiyah’s first Festival of Culture excellence, endurance, personal achievement and compe-
produced a dazzling variety of people and colors. Below: Three
women from Nigeria were brightly attired in their national tition,” said Ali A. Abuali, ASC president and CEO.
dress for the event. Bottom: Students displayed their national “Our support is part of our commitment to practicing
flags and vivid outfits with pride.
good corporate citizenship and giving back to the local
community, and it is also a credit to the hundreds of ASC
volunteers who help make the event such a success.”
As in previous years, the half marathon drew runners
from across the United States and around the world. As
the site of the USA Half Marathon Championships, it
also attracted a number of elite athletes, including
Olympian and silver-medalist Meb Keflezighi who won
the men’s half marathon with a time of 1:01, a personal
half-marathon best by three seconds.
“I’ve won 15 or 16 national championships, but this
one is most special,” said Keflezighi, who suffered a seri-
ous injury in 2008. “I wasn’t sure how soon I could get
back out and run after my injury, so this is the sweetest
win I have ever had.”
The half marathon also was
a triumph for Magdalena Boulet,
who won the women’s race with
a time of 1:11. It was her first
U.S. title.
The half marathon is part of
a same-day multi-race event that
includes the Chevron Houston
Marathon and the El Paso 5K.
It is the city’s largest single-day
sporting event, and requires
thousands of volunteers. Nearly
 350 ASC volunteers came out to support the race this
year, which set a company record over previous years.
As a result of employees’ friends and family members,
the number of volunteers was more than ASC’s total
employee population.

AOC MOVES OFFICE

BACK TO THE HAGUE

L EIDEN, Netherlands — The Aramco Overseas Co.

office in Holland is moving back to the future.
Established in 1948 in Rome, Italy, AOC moved in
1952 to The Hague, setting up base in several different
locations before finally settling down three years later
in Laan van Meerdervoort 55. Thirty-two years later,
in 1984, AOC relocated to Leiden, moving into a pur-
pose-built building on Plesmanlaan, before moving to
its Schuttersveld offices in 1988. But now, in 2009, AOC
is going back home to The Hague.
“The new offices meet our needs perfectly,” said AOC
Top: Wearing bright orange T-shirts, ASC volunteers meet managing director Ahmed Alzayyat. “Not only do they
runners at the end of the Aramco Houston Half Marathon reflect the image of Saudi Aramco but offer our employ-
and recognize their accomplishments with finisher medals
ees with a working environment that will improve job
and T-shirts. Above: Houston mayor Bill White, back row,
fourth from left, joins ASC and PMT management at the satisfaction and enhance productivity.”
starting line of the race, where he thanked ASC for its five It cannot have escaped anyone’s attention that the
years of support for the city’s largest single-day sporting
event. Inset below: Magdalena Boulet was the winner of the search for a new building to accommodate its growing
women’s half-marathon race; it was her first title in the United workforce has been active for the past couple of years.
States. Below: Olympian Meb Keflezighi crosses the Aramco
“The message from the managing director was clear,”
Houston Half Marathon finish line first, breaking the tape held
by Ali Abuali, right, and Yanbu‘ Project Director said Martin Wingrove, who heads the new office building
Mohammad S. Al-Subhi. team. “Find a building and location that represents our
position as Europe and Asia headquarters of the world’s
largest oil company, without compromising our ability to
provide our usual high quality services to our company.”
Acting on this directive, the appointed “house-hunt-
ing” committee searched high and low throughout the
Randstad urban area, importantly taking into account
the effect a move would have on commuting conven-
ience for the workforce. “Based on postcodes of each
and every employee, Leidschendam (five kilometers from
The Hague) is the residential “center point” for our
employees,” said Wingrove. “So there was no doubt
that The Hague was always at the top of the list.”
Finally, just before the end of 2008, an announcement

Spring 2009 39
News Dimensi ns
ARAMCO GETS KEYS TO FINAL
STRATEGIC STORAGE SITE

A L-QASIM — Saudi Aramco officially took control

of the al-Qasim Strategic Storage Site recently with a
ceremony for the signing of the initial delivery certificate.
Mustafa M. Al-Mahdi, manager of the Domestic Sales
and Logistics Department and Saudi Aramco’s Saudi
Strategic Storage Project (SSSP) representative, thanked
those in attendance and complimented the parties on their
cooperation during the construction and commissioning
of the project.
He said that cooperation was an extension of the spirit
that prevailed during the development of the storage sites
in Riyadh, Jiddah, Abha and Madina. Those four sites are
operated, maintained and managed by Saudi Aramco, he
said, using the highest safety standards during implemen-
tation and commissioning.
HE Musa‘id A. Al-Sayigh, director general of SSSP,
praised Saudi Aramco for its constructive role in imple-
menting the mega-project.
At the end of the celebration, Al-Mahdi thanked all
those who worked on the project and expressed his appre-
ciation for their dedication and cooperation in the inter-
ests of the Kingdom.
This is the fifth and last of the strategic storage sites to
Aramco Overseas Co.’s spacious new office complex in The
Hague, The Netherlands. be delivered to Saudi Aramco for management and opera-
tion, and they have become integral components of the
was made revealing the new building’s location to all company’s petroleum distribution network. Saudi Aramco
employees. AOC is moving back to The Hague where and the storage program coordinate to meet the King-
its new “home” is to be Scheveningseweg 62-66. dom’s need for petroleum products during peak demand,
“Finding a stand-alone building to accommodate all Al-Mahdi said.
of our employees, our parking needs and in a location The sites also have provided Saudi Aramco with the
that is convenient for the majority of our workforce was flexibility to perform periodic maintenance on refineries
indeed a challenge,” said Patricia Cromberge, who will without transporting refined products from one area to
coordinate the building renovation and move. “So we another. ■
were delighted to find this building.”
The new AOC office is situated close to a picturesque Saudi Aramco and SSSP officials gather for the awarding of
the key to the new Al-Qasim storage site.
woods and consists of an impressive entrance/
reception with five floors spread over East and
West wings. With a total of almost 5,500
square meters of office space and 116 under-
ground parking spaces, it will comfortably
house all AOC employees under one roof.

40 Saudi Aramco Dimensions

Saudi Aramco Dimensions
Public Relations Department
East Administration Building, Room 2210-B
Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia

Saudi Aramco Scrapbook

his beguiling image of a veiled

woman is similar to photographs in
a much-exhibited series titled “Look
Beyond the Veil” by Saudi Aramco employee
and creative photographer Manal Al-Dowayan,
most recently supervisor of the Corporate
Identity and Design Unit and currently a resi-
dent artist with the Delfina Foundation in
London. The model in this Scrapbook photo
is wearing a headdress style traditional in
the Kingdom’s southern region, and the photo
is one in a series of photos Al-Dowayan shot
at roughly the same time of headdress styles
in the country’s different regions to explore
the meaning of the veil. Al-Dowayan said
she prefers to shoot in black and white,
using simple techniques, and in this photo,
she used one studio light with a soft-box at
aperture F11 and a shutter speed of 60. Al-
Dowayan’s “Look Beyond the Veil” series has
been exhibited locally and internationally.

>> Submit photos for Saudi Aramco Scrapbook

(on disk, as photo print or via e-mail) to Rick
Snedeker, Saudi Aramco, East Administration Build-
ing, Room 2210-B, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia.
Glossy prints should be 8x10 inches if possible and
digitals at least 300 dpi and 8x10 size. E-mail:
[email protected]