Saudi firm boosts staff security

State oil giant Saudi Aramco is beefing up security for workers and families unnerved by a wave of deadly militant attacks on expatriate workers in the kingdom, an Aramco official said yesterday.

But Mustafa Jalali, Vice President of Saudi Aramco Affairs, said the added protection was part of ongoing security measures and not a knee-jerk reaction to the recent spate of violence rocking the kingdom.

"Saudi Aramco is doing everything within its power to ensure the safety and security of its employees and their dependents, and the company facilities and communities in which they work and live," he said in response to e-mailed questions.

Aramco is also stocking up on bullet-proof vests.

"Saudi Aramco continuously upgrades the equipment and infrastructure available to its industrial security personnel," Jalali said. "Bullet-proof vests are one of many such ongoing upgrades."

Fears about security at oil facilities have been sparked by the killing of Westerners in the oil hubs of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast and Khobar, near Dhahran on the east coast.

Aramco officials say they have no plans to hire outside security forces to strengthen protection, but Jalali said its own guards might get "additional and specialised training".

Some 5,000 Aramco guards, as well as physical barriers, cameras and government security forces have already been deployed to protect its facilities and employees.

The new measures could help calm the nerves of some of the 8,500 workers and families living on the heavily fortified Aramco compound in Dhahran who have been shaken by the bloodshed. Jalali said their fears are being taken into account.

"Saudi Aramco encourages two-way communication between employees and management, and the issue of security is no exception," he said. "This is an ongoing process."

So far there has been no sign of foreign oil workers fleeing the kingdom. But Jalali said it was impossible to predict the impact of a mass exodus of Aramco expatriates, who make up about 14 per cent of the oil giant's 54,000 workforce.

"It is impossible to gauge the effect that their leaving Saudi Aramco would have, due to the myriad factors involved," he said. "Such factors include how long it would take to replace those who leave and from which countries they would come."

Aside from the expats directly employed by Aramco, the company also subcontracts foreign workers.

Swiss-based ABB Lummus, an oil engineering firm, evacuated all of its employees from the YANPET petrochemical plant in Yanbu – jointly owned by US ExxonMobil and Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) – after the May attack.

Yet Jalali was optimistic that others would not follow suit. "Saudi Aramco is totally confident that all the companies with which it has contracted will continue to provide their valuable services," said Jalali.