Saudi Aramco, also known as the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, was officially founded in 1933, but its origins can be traced back to the 1920s, when the first oil discoveries were made in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
In 1933, the Standard Oil Company of California (SOCAL) and the Texas Oil Company (Texaco) formed a joint venture called the California-Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) with the objective of exploring and developing oil resources in the Kingdom. In 1944, the Saudi government acquired a 25% stake in CASOC, and the company’s name was changed to the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
In 1988, the Saudi government acquired full ownership of the company, and the company’s name was changed to Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco for short. Since then, the company has grown to become the largest oil company in the world in terms of both proved oil reserves and daily oil production.
