Oil Industry

Saudi Arabia possesses a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves and is the largest exporter of oil. Recent exploration by Saudi Aramco has led to new discoveries of light crude and natural gas, increasing the country's proven reserves to well over 250 billion barrels of crude oil and almost 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

To optimize revenues from oil production, Saudi Arabia has continuously expanded and upgraded existing refineries and built new ones. There are now nine refineries with a capacity of more than 1.8 million barrels per day.

Saudi Aramco is now a fully integrated company involved in crude oil production, domestic and international refining, as well as the shipping and marketing of both crude oil and petroleum products, with operations in the United States, Korea, the Philippines, Greece, Portugal, India and China.

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Economy & Global Trade Opportunities for economic growth have increased steadily over the decades since King Abdulaziz bin Abdelrahman Al-Saud founded the Kingdom in 1932.
Agriculture The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made great progress in realizing the long-held objective of achieving self-sufficiency in food production.
Agricultural Achievements The 1970s marked the beginning of serious agricultural development in the Kingdom.
Government Programs The progress made by the Saudi Arabian agricultural sector in recent years has been largely due to an array of government programs, including the provision of soft, interest-free loans and technical and support services.
Banking Commercial banking has undergone tremendous growth during the course of the country's development. There are now nine commercial banks, with branches all over the Kingdom.
Development Plans (7) Commercial banking has undergone tremendous growth during the course of the country's development. There are now nine commercial banks, with branches all over the Kingdom.
Government Support The government plays an essential role in industrial and economic development. The Ministry of Planning assists in formulating the five-year development plans that set long-term economic goals.
Industrial Cities The Kingdom's policy for ensuring the growth of the non-oil industrial sector focuses on establishing industries that use the country's abundant and inexpensive supplies of petroleum products, petrochemicals and minerals.
Private Sector The combination of loans, incentives, subsidies and information, and the government emphasis on strengthening the role of the private sector especially during the course of the Fifth and Sixth Development Plans (1990-94 and 1995-99), and now under the Seventh Plan (2000-04), have clearly had the desired result.
Water Resources Water has always been a scarce and extremely valuable resource in Saudi Arabia.

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