Saudi Arabia grants oil concession to California Arabian Standard Oil Company (Casoc), affiliate of Standard Oil of California (Socal, today's Chevron). Oil prospecting begins on Kingdom's east coast.
1936
Texas Company (now Texaco) acquires 50 percent interest in Socal's concession.
1938
Kingdom's first commercial oil field discovered at Dhahran. Crude is exported by barge to Bahrain.
1939
First tanker load of petroleum is exported.
1944
Casoc changes its name to Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
1945
Ras Tanura Refinery begins operations.
1948
Standard Oil of New Jersey (now Exxon) and Socony-Vacuum Oil (now Mobil) join Socal and Texaco as owners of Aramco.
1950
1,700-km Trans-Arabian Pipe Line (Tapline) is completed, linking Eastern Province oil fields to Lebanon and the Mediterranean.
1956
Aramco confirms scale of Ghawar and Safaniya, world's largest oil field and largest offshore field, respectively.
1961
Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) - propane and butane - is first processed at Ras Tanura and shipped to customers.
1966
Tankers begin calling at "Sea Island", new offshore crude oil loading platform off Ras Tanura.
1973
Saudi Government acquires 25 percent interest in Aramco.
1975
Master Gas System project is launched.
1980
Saudi Government acquires 100 percent participation interest in Aramco, purchasing almost all of the company's assets.
1981
East-West Pipelines, built for Aramco natural gas liquids and crude oil, link Eastern Province fields with Yanbu on the Red Sea.
1982
Exploration and Petroleum Engineering Center (EXPEC) opens in Dhahran.
1984
Company acquires its first four supertankers.
1987
East-West Crude Oil Pipeline expansion project is completed, boosting capacity to 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd).
1988
Saudi Arabian Oil Company, or Saudi Aramco, is established.
1989
High-quality oil and gas are discovered south of Riyadh - the first find outside original operating area.
1991
Company plays major role combating Gulf oil spill, the world's largest.
1992
East-West Crude Oil Pipeline capacity is boosted to 5 million bpd. Saudi Aramco affiliate purchases 35 percent interest in SsangYong Oil Refining Company of the Republic of Korea.
1993
Saudi Aramco takes charge of Kingdom's domestic refining, marketing, distribution and joint-venture refining interests.
1994
Maximum sustained crude-oil production capacity is returned to 10 million bpd. Company acquires a 40 percent equity interest in Petron, largest refiner in the Philippines.
1995
Company completes a program to build 15 very large crude carriers. Saudi Aramco President and CEO Ali I. Al-Naimi is named the Kingdom's Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
