Highlights of Operations
Chevron pursues a wide range of petroleum and petroleum-related interests with Saudi Arabia, working closely with Saudi Aramco and private firms. Special emphasis is given to projects that provide high-level employment opportunities, professional training and exposure to new technology. Chevron is the only "supermajor" with a continuous upstream presence in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The company also pursues exploration and production activities in the onshore Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ), in which the petroleum and mineral resources are jointly shared by the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Chevron legacy company Texaco began its operations in the PNZ when it acquired Getty Oil Co. in 1984. In late 2004, total production reached 3 billion barrels.
In 2000, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC (CPChem) and private Saudi investors (Saudi Industrial Investment Group, now publicly traded on the Saudi stock market) opened Saudi Chevron Phillips Co. (SCP), a $650 million petrochemical plant at Al Jubail. The plant is the kingdom's first privately financed basic petrochemical enterprise. A second company, Jubail Chevron Phillips (JCP), was formed in 2003 to construct and operate a $1.3 billion petrochemical facility adjacent to and integrated with SCP. The facility is near completion and scheduled for startup in early 2008. A third company, National Chevron Phillips, is actively pursing a $5.2 billion plant for producing a range of basic chemicals.
Chevron's history in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia began in the early 1930s when the company's predecessor, Standard Oil of California (Socal), began exploring near the Arabian coast. In 1937, The Texas Co. (later, Texaco) joined Socal as a partner in the exploration and production company that in 1944 became Aramco.
In 1938, Socal made Saudi Arabia's first oil discovery at Dammam Dome No. 7; before it was 50 days old, the well had produced 100,000 barrels. Continued probes led to the discovery of 52 oil fields, including Ghawar in 1948, still the world's largest oil field at an estimated 60 billion barrels.
Today, nearly all of the kingdom's vast oil resources lie within the original 320,000-square-mile (829,000-sq-km) concession that Socal first explored. Expanded to include additional partners in 1948, Aramco began transferring ownership to Saudi Arabia in 1973.
Updated: March 2008