Khalid A. Al-Falih

Riyadh Re f inery ’s huge newboiler unit and its accompanyingeconomizer equipment — one of thelargest package boiler units everbuilt — reached its final destina-tion this week.

The trek of the immense machin-ery turned heads all the way from

Giant Boiler Unit ReachesRiyadh Refinery

The Arabian SunThe Arabian SunK.S.A. 100 YEARS

Vol. LIV, No. 30 • Week of August 11, 1999 Telephone 874-7322, 873-8993 • FAX 875-2270 • ISSN: 1319-156X

Published weekly by Saudi Arabian Oil Company Public Relations, Rm. 2211, Administration Bldg. E.,Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, www.saudiaramco.com

Petron Corporat ion, SaudiAramco’s joint venture in the Phil-ippines, has new company execu-tives in its ranks.

Khalid A. Al-Falih was recentlyelected Petron president, whileAbdullatif A. Al-Othman and ZiadS. Labban were elected to thePetron Board of Directors. Labbanwas also elected vice president,Corporate Planning, at Petron,concurrent with his directorship.

Al-Falih succeeded Ali A. Ajmi,who remained a Petron director.

Al-Falih was manager of the Busi-

Over a half-century ago, LIFE magazine published a major coverstory on King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Al Sa‘ud and the Kingdom of SaudiArabia. It was the first time American readers were given a close-uplook at a ruler and country previously cloaked in mystery as far asthe West was concerned, yet coming to play an increasingly impor-tant role on the world stage.

The article appeared in LIFE’s May 31, 1943, issue. World War II wasraging in Europe, North Africa and the Far East. LIFE magazine, theweekly large-format newsmagazine best known for its impressive pho-tography, was in its seventh year, and was arguably the most influential

New Executives ElectedTo Petron Positions

the Mitsubishi yard in Japan whereit was fabricated, through the portsof Yokohama and Jubail, and alongthe open roads between Jubail andRiyadh.

The boiler unit is equivalentin size to a three-story building

Geotextile Applied to ShedgumGas Plant Fire Water Pipes

May 1943: LIFE LooksAt the Kingdom

Abdullatif A. Al-Othman Ziad S. Labban

King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz posed in Riyadh for this special issue of LIFE magazine.

See ‘Boiler,’ page eight See ‘Shedgum,’ page five

See ‘Petron,’ page eight

See ‘LIFE,’ page four

At the end of its long journey to the Riyadh Refinery, the big new boilerunit was carefully jacked up and then slid onto its permanent base.

Photos by Faisal Al-Dossairy

Shedgum Gas Plant recently be-gan wrapping geotextile materialaround underground fire waterpiping in a pioneering effort to solvesudden settlement problems dueto water leaks inside hydrocarbonprocess areas.

Consulting Services’ Civil Engi-neering Unit, Southern Area Pro-jects and Shedgum Gas Plant ’sEngineering Division jointly devel-oped the application.

The geotextile is made of polypro-

pylene material that is resistant tomicroorganisms in the soil.

Wrapping the pipes in the mate-rial stabilizes the sand and preventswashouts of sand and gravel in theevent of leaks because the materialcauses the pressure of the leaks tobe distributed over a larger areaand allows water — but not sand — tofilter through.

Currently, the material is beingapplied to underground fire water

August 11, 19994

The Arabian SunThe Arabian Sun

mass-market publication in the United States.LIFE magazine found its special niche in Ameri-

can journalism as a direct result of the develop-ment of highly portable 35-millimeter cameras inthe 1930s – a new technology that gave greatermaneuverability to news photographers and ex-panded the horizons of their coverage. LIFE pio-neered a new type of reportage – the “photo essay,”or telling a story with still pictures.

LIFE editor Noel F. Busch and LIFE photog-rapher Robert Landry were invited to visit theKingdom by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz himself. Neverbefore had Western journalists been officiallypermitted to visit the capital Riyadh; the twomen were granted unprecedented personal ac-cess to the King and the Royal Family.

Busch and Landry returned to New York withthe first Western journalistic account of what LIFEdescribed as “this remarkable country.” Their storyis particularly worth revisiting during theKingdom’s Centennial, which marks the first hun-dred years of the modern state unified, developedand nurtured by King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz and his sons.

At the outset of their journey, the two Ameri-can journalists flew from Cairo to the Red Seaport of Jiddah, where King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz hadarranged for a motor convoy to take his guestsacross the desert to Riyadh.

In the capital, Busch and Landry adopted Saudidress to show respect for local customs. They metwith King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz three times, and he grantedBusch a formal interview for publication.

After five days in Riyadh and at al-Kharj, 54miles (87 kilometers) to the south, Bush andLandry headed for Dhahran, headquarters ofthe California Arabian Standard Oil Company

(Casoc), forerunner of Saudi Aramco. FromDhahran, they flew back to Cairo via Basra andBaghdad — a long journey that Busch describedas “interesting but uncomfortable.”

The journalists’ adventure in Saudi Arabia andthe formal interview with King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, ap-peared as the LIFE cover — price per copy: 10 cents.

LIFE devoted 20 pages to the story, lavishlyillustrated with photos that captured the flavorof the times. At the heart of the article was aprofile of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz himself. The articlealso described life in Riyadh and recounted thestory of King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz’s dramatic capture ofthe city 100 years ago.

LIFE discussed King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz’s “partner-ship” with the United States, and in that contextdescribed the operations of Saudi Aramco prede-cessor Casoc, which the author said “far surpassed”any other major business concern in the ArabianPeninsula. Casoc’s activities “would be impressiveeven in a community like California,” Busch wrote.

“The company’s efforts to work its find on alarge scale, somewhat delayed by the war, arenow being forwarded again and constitute anotable fraction of the … war effort,” LIFE said.“Meanwhile, its presence in Arabia is welcomefor many reasons in addition to financial ones.”

Casoc’s machine shops in Dhahran made“handy repair bases” for the Government’s auto-mobiles. Casoc engineers also were helping with

LIFE . . .(continued from page one)

an agricultural land reclamation project at al-Kharj “and in many other ways,” wrote Busch.

“Shallow water wells have been Arabia’s chiefproblem since the dawn of history,” the maga-zine noted. “These are of course child’s play forthe oil drillers for whom sinking them throughthe sand has now become a routine chore, chargedoff to good relations with the landlord.”

The high level of cordiality between King ‘Abdal-‘Aziz and Casoc was illustrated months be-fore when the King paid a visit to the company’sheadquarters in Dhahran. The King honoredCasoc’s resident manager by inviting him to theroyal camp that had been set up nearby in thedesert. “Later in the evening,” Busch reported,“the King gave the oil men a banquet precededby an Arab sword dance.”

When the May 31 issue finally appeared, aRobert Landry photograph of King ‘Abd al-‘Azizgraced the cover, with the caption: “Ibn Saud:LIFE Visits Him in Arabia.”

It was Landry’s 10th cover photo for LIFE – hewould go on to rack up a total of 19 LIFE coversduring his career. Busch eventually became knownas a writer of political biographies and Asian history.

It would be six years before LIFE did anothermajor article on Saudi Arabia – and then itwould be a close-up look at Casoc’s successor,the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) inDhahran. – Bob Lebling

King ‘Abd al-‘Aziz is pictured with several of his sons at Murabba‘ Palace, which LIFE called “byfar the most impressive thing in the capital.”

A view of a natural well at al-Kharj, south ofRiyadh, which the LIFE correspondents passeden route to Dhahran.

Discovery Well Dammam No. 7 in Dhahran drew LIFE photographerRobert Landry.

The LIFE magazine writer and photographer started their visit to theKingdom in Jiddah, where this picture was taken.