TAPLINE has every reason to be proud of the successful completion of a tremendous engineering task, the greatest ever undertaken through private initiative and financing.

Despite the large petroleum reserves of the Middle East they until now have been accessible for the most part only by long tanker hauls. Completion of Tapline has in effect moved Aramco's producing fields to the shores of the Mediterranean and placed Arabian oil in a position where it can be on a competitive footing with crudes from South America or other world sources of supply. From Sidon, Arabian oil can be shipped to any part of the world where there is a demand for it.

Now that Saudi Arabian crude is able to take its proper place in world oil markets we are confident that it will make a notable contribution to world economic progress and the developing economies of the Middle East.

W. F. MOORE

President, Arabian American Oil Company