Donate

HISTORIC ARTICLE

HISTORIC ARTICLE

Mar 3, 1938 CE: Oil Discovered in Saudi Arabia

Mar 3, 1938 CE: Oil Discovered in Saudi Arabia

On March 3, 1938, an American-owned oil well in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, drilled into what would soon be identified as the largest source of petroleum in the world.

Grades

9 - 12

Subjects

Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography

‌

‌
‌
‌

‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
‌
NGS Resource Carousel Loading Logo
Loading ...
Selected text level

On March 3, 1938, oil was discovered in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. This discovery changed Saudi Arabia and the world. Most of the developed world depends on oil for industry and transportation. Saudi Arabia sells more oil, to more countries, than any other nation in the world. Oil makes up roughly 92% of Saudi Arabia’s business! The discovery of oil allowed Saudi Arabian leaders to build roads, bridges, oil pipelines, ports, factories, schools, and hospitals. Today, millions of people immigrate to Saudi Arabia from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the U.S. in search of jobs supported by the oil industry.

Media Credits

The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited.

Writer
National Geographic Society
Producer
National Geographic Society
other
Last Updated

October 19, 2023

For information on user permissions, please read our Terms of Service. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. They will best know the preferred format. When you reach out to them, you will need the page title, URL, and the date you accessed the resource.

Media

If a media asset is downloadable, a download button appears in the corner of the media viewer. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media.

Text

Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service.

Interactives

Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. You cannot download interactives.

Related Resources