The history of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dates back to the year 1747 when the ruler of Diriyyah, in the central Arabian Peninsula, Muhammad Bin Saud, formed an alliance with the Islamic scholar and reformer Muhammad Bin Abdulwahab, a partnership that led to the founding of the first Saudi State, with its capital in Diriyyah, 25 kilometers from the city center of contemporary Riyadh. Diriyyah was destroyed in 1817 by a 10,000-man-strong Ottoman army, after a 6-month siege. The ruler of Diriyyah, Abdullah Bin Saud, was executed in Istanbul.
After internal struggles and the departure, in 1824, of the Ottoman troops, Turki Bin Abdullah Bin Saud founded the second Saudi State. He established the capital in Riyadh. The Saud family then ruled much of the Arabian Peninsula throughout the 19th century until 1891, when the Al-Rasheed tribe captured Riyadh, at a time when British forces had established naval bases in the Gulf and the Ottomans had captured Al-Ahsa. The Saud were fleeing to Kuwait.
In 1902, the 21-year-old Abdulaziz Bin Abdurahman Al-Saud succeeded in recapturing Riyadh from the Al-Rasheed and in the following thirty years united the numerous and disparate tribes into one nation under the banner of Islamic monotheism. After reaching the Red Sea in Jeddah and capturing the Holy cities of Makkah and Madina, he founded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Shortly thereafter, oil was discovered in the Gulf.

An oil-based free-market economy. Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves of petroleum in the world (26% of the proved total), ranks as the largest exporter of petroleum, and plays the leading role in OPEC due to its 'swing' capacities. About 35% of GDP comes from the private sector. The Saudi government  has indicated that it sees privatization as a strategic choice and has created in August 1999 a "Supreme Economic Council" charged with boosting investment, creating jobs for Saudi citizens, and promoting privatization and diversification. In May 2000, a new law aimed at attracting foreign investment to the Saudi energy sector came into effect. The law permits full foreign ownership of Saudi licensed projects and has set up the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) as a "one-stop shop" for foreign investors. Taxes on company profits have been reduced from 45 percent to 20 percent. A customs union among the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE) was brought into force in 2003. The GCC has also agreed to form a common currency by 2010. After decade-long negotiations, Saudi Arabia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2005.

GDP growth rate:

IN 2007, WITH THE OIL PRICE EASING TO AN AVERAGE OF 55$ PER BARREL AND PRODUCTION FALLING TO 8.44 MILLION BARREL PER DAY, REAL SAUDI GDP IS ESTIMATED TO GROW BY A SOLID 4.3 PER CENT (2006: 4.2 PER CENT). PRIVATE SECTOR GDP GROWTH IS ESTIMATED TO REACH 6.0 PER CENT (2006: 6.3 PER CENT). GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE IS SET TO RISE TO 437 BILLION SAR (2006: 390 BILLION SAR; 2005: 341 BILLION SAR).  GOVERNMENT DEBT IS BEING REDUCED TO 305 BILLION SAR (2006: 366 BILLION SAR; 2005: 475 BILLION SAR).

Oil

According to the Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia contains 261.9 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (including 2.5 billion barrels in the Saudi-Kuwaiti Divided, aka "Neutral" Zone), around one-fourth of proven, conventional world oil reserves. Around two-thirds of Saudi reserves are considered "light" or "extra light" grades of oil, with the rest either "medium" or "heavy." Although Saudi Arabia has around 80 oil and gas fields (and over 1,000 wells), more than half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields, including Ghawar (the world's largest oil field, with estimated remaining reserves of 70 billion barrels) and Safaniya (the world's largest offshore oilfield, with estimated reserves of 35 billion barrels). Ghawar's main producing structures are, from north to south: Ain Dar, Shedgum, Uthmaniyah, Hawiyah, and Haradh. Ghawar alone accounts for about half of Saudi Arabia's total oil production capacity. Saudi Arabia maintains crude oil production capacity of around 10.5-11.0 million bbl/d, and claims that it is "easily capable" of producing up to 15 million bbl/d in the future and maintaining that production level for 50 years. In June 2005, Saudi Aramco's senior vice president of gas operations, Khalid al-Falih, stated that Saudi Arabia would raise production capacity to more than 12 million bbl/d by 2009, and then possibly to 15 million bbl/d "if the market situation justifies it."

Exports, Ports, Pipelines, Shipping

Saudi Arabia is a key oil supplier to the United States and Europe. Asia (e.g., China, Japan, South Korea, India) now takes around 60 percent of Saudi Arabia's crude oil exports, as well as the majority of its refined petroleum product exports. The container terminals at the new King Abdullah Economic City, on the Red Sea 150 kilometers North of Jeddah, are set to handle 6 million containers per year, i.e. about half of the container traffic in the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The terminals will be connected to the railway network, which is currently being expanded to the Red Sea.justifies it."

Refining

Saudi Arabia has eight refineries, with combined crude throughput capacity of around 1.75 million bbl/d, plus around 1.6 million bbl/d of refining capacity overseas. New export refineries are being constructed.

Natural Gas

According to Oil and Gas Journal, Saudi Arabia's proven natural gas reserves are estimated at 235.0 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), ranking fourth in the world (after Russia, Iran, and Qatar), and up about 5 Tcf from 2002. Most (around 60 percent) of Saudi Arabia's currently proven natural gas reserves consist of associated gas, mainly from the onshore Ghawar field and the offshore Safaniya and Zuluf fields. New gas reserves are currently being developed by a number of international consortia, under the National Gas Initiative, which has for the first time opened upstream gas to foreign investment.

The world's largest oil reserves, outstanding political stability, an up-to-date and further expanding infrastructure, unequalled financial reserves and a growing population guided by a government with wise vision and dedicated to reforms more than ever before make this country YOUR ideal destination for investments.

We at Al-Soaib Law Firm excel to be YOUR bridge to investment in Saudi Arabia.

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