253
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s Spouse
of pipelines carry oil to one of the four major oil refineries
in the world at Ras Tannura. Huge tankers carrying Saudi
oil to America, Europe and Japan sail from this port,
which King Abdulaziz has selected at the dawn of the
oil age. Dhahran is the heart of the oil industry. Here the
administrative center of Aramco is located, together with
King Fahd University, which is a complete complex of
modern buildings that is surrounded by parks containing
jet fountains, waterfalls and a water pumping tower.
Within the University campus, there is a special mosque
and a large conference hall, a rich library and a permanent
exhibition that reflects all stages of development of the oil
and gas industry in the country.
The city of Jubail is situated at a distance of 90 kilometers
to the north of Dammam. It started from scratch in place
of a small fishermen village. It is now a big industrial
and commercial port and the main industrial center in
the Kingdom, where the oil technological plants and oil
refineries are situated, together with everything connected
with the black gold. This settlement was named after a
small mountain (jabal) that stands close by. Although the
original village was raised to the ground from the very
start, the name did not lose its meaning and form. Thus
Jubail now stands on a three-meter-high plateau that was
erected on thousands of tons of sand specially brought
for this purpose. This quantity is enough to cover the
ground of 67 thousand one-meter-high football grounds.
Wherever possible, it was planted with tidily shaped
grass. There are three channels that extend from the sea to
the industrial area. Although their water play a role in the
254
Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia
Seen by a Diplomat’s
Spouse
industrial process, it nevertheless returns environmentally
more pure.
Thus in addition to the practical function, these facilities
have an aesthetic one, being an embellishment for the
city and a resting place for the population. The main road
runs for several kilometers along the costal strip. Work is
pleasant in this city, despite the thickets of brightly shining
posts in the industrial area. I should mention in passing
that a few specialists from Azerbaijan work here and in
Riyadh and are doing a good job. Aramco’s management
and Saudi universities greatly appreciate their work and
have expressed readiness to cooperate with our scientists
for many years.
As in other new cities in the country, Jubail has an
exhibition where a few things are shown. Needless to say,
it cannot be compared to any of even the most modest of
exhibitions in advanced countries.
Yet, when visiting these facilities I am struck by the
care given by the authorities to everything that is taking
place and their determination to record this historical
period in the life of the area., one which is short, very
swift and full of events for the present population and for
the future generations.
One other thing about Jubail. It appears in the Guinness
record as the largest construction project in the world, for
the completion of which specialists from sixty different
nationalities were involved.
The Eastern Province is not known only for oil. It is
also known for its agricultural fields (by Saudi standards),
for its cities and oases. In the latter, wind towers have