On March 3, 1938, Dammam No. 7 struck commercial oil near Dhahran, marking Saudi Arabia's first major oil discovery. Drilled by the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, the well came after six years of costly exploration and multiple failed attempts, earning it the nickname "The Prosperity Well."
The discovery proved that Saudi Arabia sat atop massive petroleum reserves. Within decades, the country would become the world's largest oil exporter, with the Dammam structure forming the foundation of what later became Saudi Aramco, now the most valuable energy company in history.
By the 1950s, Saudi oil production exceeded one million barrels per day, permanently shifting global energy supply away from North America and redefining geopolitics, pricing power, and energy security worldwide.
