Articles
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2009, pages 65-66
Waging Peace
Saudi Aramco Invests in Future
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KHALID AL-FALIH, president and CEO of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), hosted a May 5 reception and dinner at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. In his welcoming remarks, Al-Falih said Saudi Arabians listened with interest to the thoughtful, yet upbeat, tone in President Barack Obama’s inaugural speech and his first television interview with al-Arabiya.
Al-Falih pointed to some important changes in the United States, which he said “has entered into a new era of responsibility and accountability.” America is no longer interested in short-term gains, he noted, and this is especially true in the field of energy. Everyone should be a careful steward of the planet’s energy resources.
Saudi Arabia is particularly aware of its role as the world’s top oil supplier, and will continue to provide an ample supply of energy to both developing and industrial nations. Oil consumption has fallen for two consecutive years and prices are down nearly $100 a barrel due to global economic problems. This is good for the economy, Al-Falih said, but it threatens future investments in the field.
Nonetheless, the Khurais oil field development program is nearly complete, he stated, and the Moneefa oil field project will start up in increments beginning in 2013. Saudi Arabia is also investing in education, particularly in the “bold new cutting edge” graduate-level research center, the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). The university, on the Red Sea near Rabigh, is set to open in September 2009. KAUST will help inspire innovation in the fields of energy and environmental research, biosciences, and many other fields.
While the mainstream media report “a clash of civilizations” and some pundits pit one society against another, Saudi Arabia—particularly Saudi Aramco—already is a model of multicultural exchange, Al-Falih concluded. Seventy different nationalities now call themselves Aramcons, and have worked in harmony and cooperation for 76 years.
Seated at each table at the Aramco dinner was a Saudi Arabian employee of Aramco, visiting the United States for further training. Abdulaziz A. Al-Abdulkarim, a young manager who lives in Dhahran, energized our table with his flawless English, graciousness, and diplomatic demeanor. Meeting him convinced us that the next generation of Aramcons is, if possible, even more impressive than the last.
—Delinda C. Hanley
