Aramco Frontier Story by Parker

Aramco Frontier Story by Parker

Aramco’s Frontier Story, a story by Chad H. Parker, examines how cultural practices, political conditions, geographical situations, environment, history, money, and institutions pushed the development of oil production by corporations in the Middle East. This reading focuses on the activities of an oil company, the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco), between the 1940s and 1950s. It exposes how the company interferes with the region’s politics, religion, and border disputes to establish itself as a sole oil production company.

Geography played a significant role in Aramco’s bid to become the sole oil production company. When Saudi Arabia’s king declared the Buraymi Oasis part of his domain in 1949, Aramco supported the claim even though maps drawn earlier in 1935 did not support the claim. Aramco was caught off guard when the early maps were obtained, but the company went ahead with the support by helping the Saudi kingdom with legal claims of the Oasis. The company received help from its public relations team and anthropologists such as Federico Vidal.

Aramco also made political affiliations during the period for it to stay a significant oil production company. From the early 1930s through the 1970s, the Arabian American Oil Company appeared as a partner in building the Saudi Arabian nation. The only way the company could relate positively with the Arabian Monarchy was to support whatever the country needed. The company even changed its name in 1944 from the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC) with the aim of getting a more appropriate title for political purposes and image.

The company also used the economy and institutions to establish its name. The company invested a lot of money in establishing its public relations arm. The public relations arm was responsible for most of the company’s manipulations in the state. The public relations arm was used to construct a Saudi Arabian traditional narrative and paint the company as a partner. The company helped the Saudi king in nation-building by providing the necessary science and technology. The company assisted in acquiring modern technology for communication and other purposes of importance. In the process, Aramco presented itself as an indispensable partner in social and economic development.

Culture and environment did not help the company much in establishing itself as the sole oil production company in Saudi Arabia. The company had little to offer to alter Saudi Arabia’s environment. The people of Saudi Arabia are also known to be preservatives. This way, the company had little to manipulate regarding cultural practices in Saudi Arabia.

All the activities and politics the company was involved in made it successful in establishing itself as an independent agent in Saudi Arabia. The company’s diplomatic support for Saudi’s boundary claims sealed this position of autonomous agent. The positive image created was a corporate strategy that aimed to make the company legitimate socially and morally. The company’s money invested in Saudi Arabia did more to the Saudi Arabian economic development in the long run. Saudi Arabia gained more from Aramco’s vision in the end. (Parker 184).

Reference

 Parker, Chad H. “Aramco’s Frontier Story: The Arabian American Oil Company and Creative Mapping in Postwar Saudi Arabia.” Oil Culture, by Ross Barrett and Daniel Worden, University of Minnesota Press, 2014, pp. 171–184.

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Aramco Frontier Story by Parker

Case study assignment: How do geography (space), politics (power), economics  (money), institutions, culture, and the environment play a role in the  Parker reading?