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persuasive with the majority of the SoCal board. They returned to Saudi
Arabia and re-drilled “Well 7” to what became known as the Arab D
Zone. They struck oil in great quantities under great pressure. In subse-
quent years, Well 7 alone produced a total of over 32 million barrels of
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might produce 32 million barrels of oil. By 1939, an oil pipeline had
been completed to a slim peninsula stretching out in the Persian Gulf.
The tip of the peninsula became the oil-loading pier of Ras Tanura.

Operations were virtually shut down during World War II. How-
ever, American military planners anticipated a tremendous need for die-
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War II. Accordingly, scarce steel and equipment were authorized under
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on an expedited basis. American men and materials were shipped and
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Americans continued to be sent to Arabia after 1945 to develop
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had driven him out to the Abqaiq area. Mr. Davies, who was also trained
as a geologist, could see no obvious indication of an oil-bearing struc-
ture. Max Steineke assured him that there was a great stratigraphic trap
underground. He was convinced it was a great prospect. A couple of
years later drilling began to uncover what proved to be the largest oil
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and 19 miles wide, with most wells producing over 10,000 barrels of oil
per day!
Eastern Saudi Arabia along the Persian Gulf was about as dif-
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earth. There were a few scattered oases along the coast where the local
Arabs raised date palms and alfalfa beneath them. Water was about 20
feet below surface, so it was possible to dig wells to tap it. The remain-
der of the Eastern (Al Hasa) Province was a barren waste. There were
gravel plains and sand dunes about 100 feet high. Rainfall averaged

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