Sober Saudi

Yesterday I took my first (and hopefully last) ever flight from one desert to an even bigger desert… not something most people can boast having ever done.

Nestled inside the middle of the Rub ‘al Khali and a scene reminiscent of the late 1990’s, I had finally found the Saudi Arabia I was looking for:  Hummers, sand dunes, and black gold (only without the Hummers).

Watch the first few minutes of this video to see what I’m talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJztP-Zy7zc

In this sand desert (larger than France, Belgium, and the Netherlands combined) sits the Saudi Aramco oil drilling site better known as Shaybah.  Pumping nearly 800,000 bpd of extra light crude oil (you can pump this stuff straight into the gas turbine) this well is responsible for about 10% of all of Saudi’s oil exports.

However, the real beauty of Shaybah is not necessarily the project site, but the surrounding landscapes.  Here on the west coast of the Kingdom, we’ve become accustomed to a desert similar to what you’ll see on the drive from LA to Vegas (KAUST, Vegas… all one big gamble); so when we were suddenly dropped into the middle of the type of desert you see only in the postcards, a real sense of awe overcame us all.

There’s something about lying on top of a thousand foot tall sand dune watching the sunset and listening to the call to prayer echo through the valley; knowing that a gracious reservoir a mile beneath you is pumping its gifts straight into your graduate education… and your mom’s 4Runner.

Contrary to the common belief among my peers that “I’d arrived in Saudi Arabia years too early” I was beginning to believe that maybe I’d showed up too late…

Did I mention that ALL of the sand used for the construction of Shaybah was imported from outside the Rub ‘al Khali?  It was the ‘90’s.