Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, was founded in 1933. It grew from one concession into the world's largest petroleum producer.
The company produces 12.7 million barrels of oil equivalent daily and holds over 270 billion barrels of reserves.
Headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Aramco is majority state-owned.
About Saudi Aramco
Sector
Energy
Industry
Petroleum & Natural Gas
CEO
Amin H. Nasser
Website
aramco.com
Headquarters
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Founded
1933
Status
Public (Tadawul)
Saudi Aramco Founders
King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud
Granted the original oil concession on behalf of Saudi Arabia
Standard Oil Company of California (SoCal)
American partner; formed CASOC subsidiary to manage operations
Lloyd Hamilton
SoCal attorney who negotiated the 1933 concession agreement
Max Steineke
Chief geologist who directed the drilling that struck oil in 1938
Saudi Aramco History
Saudi Aramco went from a small American-Saudi partnership to the most profitable corporation on Earth within a few decades. Here are five turning points that shaped the company.
1933
Saudi Arabia signed a concession agreement with Standard Oil of California, creating the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC).
1938
Commercial oil production began at Dammam No. 7, Saudi Arabia's first successful well, known as the "Prosperity Well."
1980
The Saudi government acquired 100% ownership of Aramco, completing a gradual nationalization process that started in 1973.
1988
A royal decree established the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), replacing the former Aramco structure entirely.
2019
Saudi Aramco listed on the Tadawul stock exchange, raising $25.6 billion in the largest initial public offering in history.
FAQs
Who owns Saudi Aramco?
The Saudi Arabian government owns approximately 98% of Saudi Aramco — about 81% directly and 16% through the Public Investment Fund. The remaining 2.4% trades publicly on the Saudi Exchange (Tadawul).
When did Saudi Aramco come out?
The company originated in 1933 as the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company. It was officially renamed Saudi Aramco by royal decree in November 1988. Its shares began public trading on the Tadawul exchange on December 11, 2019.
Is Saudi Aramco an American company?
No. Saudi Aramco is a Saudi state-owned company headquartered in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. It originated from an American-Saudi partnership in 1933, but the Saudi government took full ownership in 1980 and has controlled it since.
Who made Saudi Aramco logo?
Saudi Aramco's in-house branding team developed the current logo. It features a blue-to-green gradient square with a ten-pointed star pattern made of white dots, paired with bilingual Arabic and English text.
