The Rub al Khali (Empty Quarter)--February 20, 2006
I have decided to postpone the discussion I'm planning to do on schools in this blog, although I plan on mentioning it a bit in today≠s podcast, because I will be traveling to other schools while in Riyadh and Jeddah and want to wait until I have visited all of them.
Today, I will focus on a unique region of the world known as the Rub al Khali or in English as the Empty Quarter. This area includes nearly the entire southeast quarter of the country of Saudi Arabia and represents the largest of all sand deserts in the world (the Sahara is of a different variety. Temperature extremes range from nearly 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to lows below freezing during the winter evenings. Sand dunes run interrupted for miles, and until recently, there were almost no roads through the desert. Occasionally, winds of up to 50 miles an hour stir up brutal sandstorms.
We visited a part of the Rub al Khali today known as Shaybah. In the 1960s, Aramco determined that oil was present below the shifting sands. However, the remoteness of the location, nearly 340 miles from the nearest city, made it cost prohibitive to set up for production. Thirty years went by, oil extraction technologies improved, and by the mid 1990s, they decided by using horizontal drilling techniques, they could make it profitable. Industrial and residential complexes, a 250 mile service road, and airstrip were built. 700 employees currently work there and it is an important source of extra light crude oil.
As you look at the pictures I am posting, I hope you can get a sense of the remoteness of this operation. The dunes surrounding the facilities can reach 100-300 meters high and the sand is a orange color different than anything I have ever seen. In a side note, it was sprinkling while we were there. We asked the last time they had moisture, and they replied over a year ago. Such is life in one of the world≠s driest deserts.
Tomorrow, I head to Riyadh. In the meantime, I encourage you to take a look at the Rub al Khali on Google Earth and see if you can find Shaybah. I haven≠t tried it yet, but doing a search for oil facilities might help you track it down. It was hard to have a sense of where in the desert we were exactly, but I was told that we were 20-30 miles from the United Arab Emirates, so we were near the border of the two nations.
The Saudi Aramco Residential and Industrial Complex at Shaybah
Other views of the Rub al Khali
Hope you have enjoyed the pictures of the Empty Quarter and Shaybah! Check out my podcast if you want a few early comments about the school and science and technology museum I visited today. Inshallah (a common Arabic phrase literally meaning God Willing and often used to declare one will make their best effort), I will be reporting from Riyadh for you tomorrow night.
# - Kevin Witte - 2/20/06; 2:20:52 PM - Discuss (6 responses)
Enclosure: KWitte-day4.m4a -
Today, I will focus on a unique region of the world known as the Rub al Khali or in English as the Empty Quarter. This area includes nearly the entire southeast quarter of the country of Saudi Arabia and represents the largest of all sand deserts in the world (the Sahara is of a different variety. Temperature extremes range from nearly 130 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer to lows below freezing during the winter evenings. Sand dunes run interrupted for miles, and until recently, there were almost no roads through the desert. Occasionally, winds of up to 50 miles an hour stir up brutal sandstorms.
We visited a part of the Rub al Khali today known as Shaybah. In the 1960s, Aramco determined that oil was present below the shifting sands. However, the remoteness of the location, nearly 340 miles from the nearest city, made it cost prohibitive to set up for production. Thirty years went by, oil extraction technologies improved, and by the mid 1990s, they decided by using horizontal drilling techniques, they could make it profitable. Industrial and residential complexes, a 250 mile service road, and airstrip were built. 700 employees currently work there and it is an important source of extra light crude oil.
As you look at the pictures I am posting, I hope you can get a sense of the remoteness of this operation. The dunes surrounding the facilities can reach 100-300 meters high and the sand is a orange color different than anything I have ever seen. In a side note, it was sprinkling while we were there. We asked the last time they had moisture, and they replied over a year ago. Such is life in one of the world≠s driest deserts.
Tomorrow, I head to Riyadh. In the meantime, I encourage you to take a look at the Rub al Khali on Google Earth and see if you can find Shaybah. I haven≠t tried it yet, but doing a search for oil facilities might help you track it down. It was hard to have a sense of where in the desert we were exactly, but I was told that we were 20-30 miles from the United Arab Emirates, so we were near the border of the two nations.
The Saudi Aramco Residential and Industrial Complex at Shaybah
Other views of the Rub al Khali
Hope you have enjoyed the pictures of the Empty Quarter and Shaybah! Check out my podcast if you want a few early comments about the school and science and technology museum I visited today. Inshallah (a common Arabic phrase literally meaning God Willing and often used to declare one will make their best effort), I will be reporting from Riyadh for you tomorrow night.
# - Kevin Witte - 2/20/06; 2:20:52 PM - Discuss (6 responses)
Enclosure: KWitte-day4.m4a -
Last update: Monday, February 20, 2006 at 2:20:52 PM
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