Which petroleum company became the first to produce oil commercially in Saudi Arabia after discovering Dammam Well No. 7?

Standard Oil of California became the first petroleum company to produce oil commercially in Saudi Arabia after discovering Dammam Well No. 7. The well struck commercial quantities of oil near Dhahran in 1938.

The company, often abbreviated Socal, had received an exploration concession from the Saudi government in 1933. Early wells were disappointing, and the company faced pressure to abandon the search. Dammam No. 7, drilled under the direction of chief geologist Max Steineke, changed the project’s prospects when it began producing oil.

Socal later formed the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company, which became Arabian American Oil Company, or Aramco. In the decades that followed, ownership shifted to the Saudi government, and Saudi Aramco became the state-controlled company known today. The discovery helped create the economic foundation of modern Saudi Arabia.