The economy of Saudi Arabia is the largest in the Middle East and the eighteenth largest in the world. A permanent and founding member of the OPEC, Saudi Arabia is also a member of the G20 forum as one of the world's largest economies.
Transport in Saudi Arabia is facilitated through a relatively young system of roads, railways and seaways. Most of the network started construction after the discovery of oil in the Eastern Province in 1952, with the notable exception of Highway 40, which was built to connect the capital Riyadh to the economically productive Eastern Province, and later to the Islamic holy city of Mecca and the port city of Jeddah. With the economic growth of the 1970s, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has initiated many infrastructure development projects across the country, and the extensive development of the transportation network has followed suit in support of various economic developments.
Saudi Aramco, officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Group or simply Aramco, is a Saudi Arabian public petroleum and natural gas company based in Dhahran. As of 2020, it is one of the largest companies in the world by revenue. Saudi Aramco has both the world's second-largest proven crude oil reserves, at more than 270 billion barrels, and largest daily oil production of all oil-producing companies. It is the single greatest contributor to global carbon emissions of any company in the world since 1965. On 11 May 2022, Saudi Aramco became the largest company in the world by market cap, surpassing Apple Inc.
The Eastern Province, also known as the Eastern Region, is the easternmost of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the largest province by area and the third most populous after the Riyadh Province and the Mecca Province. In 2017, the population was 4,900,325. Of these, 3,140,362 were Saudi citizens and 1,759,963 were foreign nationals The province accounts for 15.05% of the entire population of Saudi Arabia and is named for its geographical location relative to the rest of the kingdom.
Dammam is the fifth-most populous city in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina. It is the capital of the Eastern Province. With a total population of 1,252,523 as of 2020. The judicial and administrative bodies of the province, in addition to the administrative offices of other minor governmental departments functioning within the province, are located in the city. The word itself is generally used to refer to the city, but may also refer to its eponymous governorate.
Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain founded by Marion Barton Skaggs in April 1915 in American Falls, Idaho. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and features a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops and fuel centers. It is a subsidiary of Albertsons after being acquired by private equity investors led by Cerberus Capital Management in January 2015. Safeway's primary base of operations is in the Western United States with some stores located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Eastern Seaboard. The subsidiary is headquartered in Pleasanton, California, with its parent company, Albertsons, headquartered in Boise, Idaho.
Qatif or Al-Qatif is a governorate and urban area located in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. It extends from Ras Tanura and Jubail in the north to Dammam in the south, and from the Persian Gulf in the east to King Fahd International Airport in the west. This region has its own municipality and includes the Qatif downtown, Safwa, Saihat, Tarout Island, and many other smaller cities and towns.
King Fahd International Airport, also known as Dammam International Airport or simply Dammam Airport or King Fahd Airport, is the international airport serving Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The airport is located 31 kilometres northwest of downtown Dammam and is named after the former King of Saudi Arabia, Fahd ibn Abdulaziz (1921–2005). The airport serves the entire Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and is one of the three primary international airports in the kingdom.
Abqaiq is a Saudi Aramco gated community and oil-processing facility located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia, located in the desert 60 km southwest of the Dhahran-Dammam-Khobar metropolitan area, and north of the Rub' al-Khali, the second largest sand desert in the world also known as the "Empty Quarter". The community was built in the 1940s by Aramco. The Abqaiq community had a population of approximately 1,500 in 2012, though the inclusion of the population outside the Saudi Aramco community brings this number closer to 30,000.
Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi is a Saudi Arabian politician who was the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources from 1995 to 2016.
The Al Muhaidib Group is an international private group of companies based in Saudi Arabia that was founded in 1946 by Abdul Kadir bin Abdul Muhsin Al-Muhaidib. The current chairman of the board of directors is Sulaiman A. K. Al-Muhaidib.
Dhahran is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 240,742 as of 2021, it is a major administrative center for the Saudi oil industry. Together with the nearby cities of Dammam and Khobar, Dhahran forms part of the Dammam Metropolitan Area, which is commonly known as greater Dammam and has an estimated population of 4,140,000 as of 2012.
Rabigh is a city and governorate in the Province of Makkah of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, situated on the coast of the Red Sea, around 208 km (129 mi) northwest of Mecca in the historic Hejazi region. The city had an estimated population of 180,352 in 2014 and is situated at an elevation of 13 m (43 ft) above sea level, close to the border with the Madinah Province. The city dates back to the era before the advent of Islam in the 7th century C.E., and up to the 17th century, was known as Al-Juhfah, or Al-Johfah.
Majid Al Futtaim is an Emirati holding company based in Dubai. As of 2015, it owned and operated shopping malls, retail, and leisure establishments in the Middle East and North Africa with operations in 13 countries including UAE, Lebanon, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, Pakistan, Iraq, Armenia, Iran, and Georgia. The group was established by Majid Al Futtaim in 1992 and manages three major operating subsidiaries: Majid Al Futtaim Properties, Majid Al Futtaim Retail, and Majid Al Futtaim Ventures.
Khalid A. Al-Falih is Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia since 25 February 2020. He served as Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia and chairman of Saudi Aramco. He also has previously served as the Saudi Arabian Health Minister and Aramco's CEO.
Saudi Arabian oil was first discovered by the Americans in commercial quantities at Dammam oil well No. 7 in 1938 in what is now modern day Dhahran.
The Dammam metropolitan area, or Greater Dammam, is the largest metropolitan area in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It consists of "The Triplet Cities" of Dammam, Khobar, Dhahran and their vicinities. It had a population of 1,916,644 million as of the 2010 census. and is estimated at about 2,8 million as of 2022. It is known for the arts, pearl culturing, entertainment and popular music and sports legacies. The area includes a variety of natural landscapes, parks, and beaches with a recreational coastline to the Persian Gulf. The Greater Dammam area is also known for being one of the cornerstones of the oil industry with the world's largest oil company and most valuable company, Saudi Aramco, being based in Dhahran, as a result of the first oil well being dug in the area.
Highway 40 is a major east–west six-lane controlled-access highway in Saudi Arabia, spanning 1,395 km. The highway connects Jeddah, the second-largest city in the kingdom, on the western coast of Saudi Arabia to Dammam, the sixth-largest city on the eastern coast and the largest in the Eastern Province. Apart from Jeddah and Dammam, Highway 40 also runs near or through Mecca, Ta'if, Riyadh, Abqaiq and Khobar along its length, and provides access to the Mahazat as-Sayd and Saja and Umm Al Ramth wildlife sanctuaries.
ARASCO is a closed joint stock company in Saudi Arabia. It is one of the GCC’s most prominent national food companies, ranking among the 100 largest companies in Saudi Arabia. It is a privately held feed-to-food company. It is Arabian Agricultural Services Company (ARASCO), a food security enterprise and the parent company of six strategic business units. Its business is privately held by Saudi shareholders.
Abdullah Al-Othaim Markets Company is a Saudi Arabia-based joint stock company, currently operating in Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Its main activities are food wholesaling, grocery stores, and malls. As of 2017 the company operated 183 stores: - 143 supermarkets and hypermarkets, 27 convenience stores, and 13 wholesale outlets in Saudi Arabia, and 31 stores in Egypt.
