Word: bechtel
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...look now, but American foreign policy has just been sold to the highest bidder. And the winner is Saudi Arabia, with two former executives of the Bechtel Group, Caspar Weinberger and George Shultz, in Reagan's Cabinet...
...Bechtel proposed an audacious solution: assemble a complex of automated petrochemical plants near the oilfields to process and use the wasted gases. The fuel could be used not only to provide raw material for the development of a new petrochemical industry, but also supply the energy to process and manufacture products ranging from plastics and fertilizers to steel and aluminum. The King agreed. The Bechtel firm produced a master plan for the project, and in 1976 was chosen as construction manager...
Even for a company of Bechtel's resources, experience and depth, Jubail represented a staggering undertaking. When the site for the new city was officially dedicated in October 1977 by King Khalid, who had ascended to the Saudi throne on the death of his half-brother Faisal two years earlier, there was little at Jubail but scrub, sand and the nearby fishing village of Al Jubail seven miles to the south on the Persian Gulf. Within twelve months, enough trailers to house 13,000 workers had been plopped onto the sandscape. A 13,000-ft. runway, capable of receiving...
...Bechtel has managed its huge project without noticeable criticism or complaint from its Croesus-rich client. One reason is the company's almost ferocious dedication to careful planning and delivery scheduling, which seeks to avoid supply shortages and transportation interruptions that can produce budget overruns and delays. Indeed, while port operations in many developing countries frequently lead to congestion that leaves ships queuing for months on end, Saudi officials boast that demurrage (delay time) at Jubail is "not a single...
Should the Jubail project fail to live up to its billing, Bechtel's worldwide reputation would suffer a severe blow. As the prime mover behind the project, as well as its master planner, the firm bears a large responsibility for Jubail's eventual success. At this point, however, no one is betting against the California engineers. Muses a U.S. embassy officer from Jidda: "If Saudi Arabia is any indication, Bechtel follows one motto: Think big. You get the feeling that if the U.S. Government had not thought of the moon landing first, Bechtel would have proposed the idea...