The impact of petroleum development on the political, social and cultural life of Saudi Arabia has perhaps been even greater than the direct economic impact. Oil was the wedge that gave Western culture, Western attitudes, and Western technology entry into Saudi Arabia. Given the earlier prevailing attitudes of Saudi Arabs toward foreigners, particularly non-Muslim foreigners, it is difficult to imagine Western penetration in the absence of the petroleum industry.
Except for Muslims, it is likely that only a few explorers and scholars (who could obtain visas) would have visited Saudi Arabia if oil had not been discovered. The Nejd area of central Saudi Arabia offered little but hardship to nonresidents. Westerners had traditionally been confined to Jeddah on the west coast, and most Westerners were there either for commercial reasons or as members of the diplomatic corps. The founder of the country, King Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud, made a strong effort to restrict the movements and the influence of the American oil community to the eastern province where oil operations were centered. The religious and political life of the kingdom he founded were so intertwined that he feared the eventual consequences of any undermining of traditional beliefs and customs.
Nevertheless, penetration was inevitable, and few traditional societies have undergone a more rapid transition than Saudi Arabia has in the period since 1933. The abrupt exposure to Western attitudes and technology has altered many of the customs and attitudes upon which Saudi life was based.
Similarly, oil income transformed political life in the kingdom. The House of Saud had established control over the area, but it is questionable whether it would have maintained political leadership and asserted its control over the many tribal areas without the financial resources afforded by oil operations.
In the past, one or another of the tribes had attained supremacy for a time, only to be deposed in the constant tribal warfare that characterized the Arabian Peninsula. The leverage afforded by oil income profoundly affected the relationships between tribes and was no small element in maintaining the Saud family in power and in achieving progress toward a unified national state and economy. The loyalty of both friends and former enemies was assured by cash payments.
The demonstration effect was considerable in Saudi Arabia. Not only were Saudis able to see first-hand the material comforts of the Western community established in Dhahran, but oil revenues made it possible for many Saudis to travel to Europe and North America, and many returned to Saudi Arabia determined to import as much of the Western standard of living as possible. Material comforts and luxury were coveted by those able to afford them. The relative isolation of the Arabian Peninsula was breached, and the substantial increase in the import bill for consumer goods was one of the major results of this increased contact with the rest of the world.
Excerpted from "Aramco: The Evolution of an Oil Concession," by Donald A. Wells, in Foreign Investment in the Petroleum and Mineral Industries, by Raymond Mikesell and others, published for RFF by The Johns Hopkins Press, 1971.
A version of this article appeared in print in the June 1971 issue of Resources magazine.
