I’m writing this from our long layover in London; I know it’s not as timely as it could be but I wanted you to share in the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Saudi Arabia Aramco refinery. We head back to Seattle today and it’s not a minute too soon – I’m homesick!
We had a massive treat a couple days ago. We got out of the hotel by 5:30 a.m. to catch a private corporate jet (yep, that’s the plane in the top photo) to the Saudi Aramco oil fields. The Aramco team flew our entire Entrepreneur’s group across the country to tour their oil fields and learn more about their company.
According to the presentation, Saudi is facing a massive problem. My memory is a teensy bit fuzzy but the demographic information for Saudi’s future will be challenging for them: 70% of the population is supported by 30% of the population and within 10 (?) years, over 50% of the population will be under the age of 18 with no jobs in sight (since Saudi Arabia doesn’t export anything besides oil). Aramco used the opportunity encourage the entrepreneurs in the group to partner with them in their Innovation Zones. They import a lot of industrial products for their oil fields and would like to manufacture those products in-country (to help produce jobs for future generations).
The official line is the Saudi government partnered and purchased Aramco from their U.S. counterparts back in the ’70s. Some of the locals told me that they actually “appropriated” Aramco from a US based company back in the ‘70s for under market value. The truth probably lies someplace in the middle. Today, Aramco produces 1/10th of the world’s crude oil every single day. Their last plant cost multiple billions to build (memory is foggy but I think it was $2 billion) and they repaid it within four months. Saudi Aramco is thought to be (by far) the world’s most profitable company.
We were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to climb the sand dunes at Shaybah oil fields. We all kicked off our shoes and climbed the sand dunes and watched the sunset from these massive sand dunes. Climbing sand dunes is a lot of work (very, very physically taxing) but was so very worth it. It was breath taking and incredibly peaceful.
The Saudi Aramco company prides itself on being a “Little America” so they allow women to work with men and women can drive. When we got to our second destination of the day (three flights on the private jets – it wasn’t much of a hardship), the Aramco men greeting our plane INSISTED the women take off our abayas. Since we typically have understood that we will very much offend the locals and be under possibility of imprisonment if we are caught out in public
without our head coverings and abaya coverings, we were quite hesitant but the Saudi Aramco men wanted us to understand that they are ‘different’ at Saudi Aramco and welcomed us to wear our western-style garb. Even then, several of the women still left theirs on.
This permissive attitude only went so far however. When I asked, in a public Q & A session, if the women and children are allowed to live with the 700 worker men who work in this very very very remote section of Saudi, the man feigned puzzlement and said “Thank you for your comment.” Still having the mic, I said, “No, that’s a question. Are women and families allowed to stay with their husbands in your staff housing?”
He looked at me sideways, barked a short laugh, turned his back to me and said “No. No women. It’s very simple!” And when we were boarding the plane to go home, one of the women put her abaya on as she was cold and he said to her “Ah, you look much prettier in that.”
The trip to Aramco was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am so thankful that we were given the opportunity. And, if I could only figure out how to manufacture one of the parts that the Aramco company needs, I would be one happy businesswoman. I wonder if I can convince them that they need a lot of handmade soap?
