Saudi Aramco, one of the world's most valuable listed companies by market capitalization, is headquartered in Dhahran.
Dhahran is an important center of Saudi Arabia’s petroleum industry in the Eastern Province, near the larger urban area that includes Dammam and Al Khobar. Saudi Aramco’s main corporate campus and major research activities are based there.
The company grew from oil exploration concessions granted in the 1930s. Commercial production began after the discovery of oil at Dammam Well No. 7 in 1938. The business was gradually acquired by the Saudi government and became fully state-owned in 1980.
Saudi Aramco began trading on the Saudi Exchange in 2019. Riyadh is Saudi Arabia’s political capital, while Jeddah is a major Red Sea port; neither is the company’s headquarters city. Dammam is nearby, which explains another common location confusion.