OIL & GAS: Desert Victory

OIL & GAS

Deep in the Middle East desert last week, a burnoosed Arab swung a Geiger counter over a fat steel pipe, tracing the progress of a radioactive swab inside. Behind the swab pushed a brown tide of oil, bound on a 1,068-mile journey from Arabian-American Oil Co.'s vast Saudi Arabian wells to the Mediterranean port of Sidon, in Lebanon. It was the first oil to pass through the $200 million Trans-Arabian pipeline (known as Tapline), the biggest overseas construction project ever financed by private U.S. capital.

Long Haul. The pipeline, which brings Aramco's oil closer to Western European markets, saves...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!