Ras Tanura, Industrial port city on Persian Gulf peninsula, Saudi Arabia
Ras Tanura is an industrial port city on a Persian Gulf peninsula in Saudi Arabia, featuring oil refineries, storage facilities, and a deep-water harbor. The complex handles large oil tankers that arrive from across the globe.
The Arabian American Oil Company founded the city in the 1930s following the discovery of major oil reserves in the region. It rapidly became a key export center for crude oil from the Middle East.
The Najmah residential community brings together Saudi citizens and international professionals who work side by side maintaining the oil facilities and living in a shared compound.
The city connects to other towns via a two-lane highway that joins the Dhahran-Jubail route for ground travel. A private airport operated by Saudi Aramco serves the facility and its operations.
The site includes human-made islands designed specifically to accommodate large ships needed for moving oil across the world's oceans. This engineering allows tankers to load that rank among the largest vessels sailing today.
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