Saudi Oil Industry Boosts Security
Saudis usually avoid talking about security issues, but experts say security around oil installations both on land and offshore has been heavy for decades. They say communication links allow all key installations to be monitored around the clock, and the facilities are guarded by soldiers, gunboats and anti-aircraft guns.
"If we're on red alert, I would imagine the oil fields in Saudi Arabia are on red alert," said Henry Lee, director of the natural resources program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The Dhahran headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the state oil company that manages all oil operations in the kingdom, also is under tight security.
Office buildings inside the fenced compound have security gates with X-ray scanners for bags and packages. Employees have to show photo ID cards at the gate - and high-security cards must be handed in when employees go on vacation.
Lee said there are some oil fields - he declined to name them - that have custom-made equipment and are particularly vulnerable to an attack since they could not be repaired immediately.
Saudi Arabia is home to the world's largest oil field, Ghawar, 60 miles southwest of Dhahran, and Safaniya, the biggest offshore oil field, 160 miles north of Dhahran.
Some analysts say oil markets would be able to weather an attack on Saudi installations simply because of their sheer size and the vast stocks of its oil in storage.
"The important ports are so large that simply it wouldn't make a difference, and there are so many boats that again it wouldn't make a difference, and there are so many pipelines that again it wouldn't make a difference," said Jan Stuart, head of research for global energy futures at ABN Amro in New York.