Camels are highly prized in Arabia and can fetch huge sums of money

A $250,000 compensation claim has been made against Saudi Arabia's oil giant Saudi Aramco for causing the death of a prized camel, local press reports say.

The case, to be heard on Monday, involves a three-year-old black camel which fell into a large hole dug in the desert to store crude oil.

The camel's owner is quoted saying the beast had been entered in one of the region's popular camel beauty pageants.

The compensation claim is based on the value experts put on the camel.

The owner, Abdullah Al-Saiari, said the she-camel was grazing in a desert pasture, about 150 miles (250km) west of Ahsa, when the accident happened.

"She was part of the Camel Beauty Contest," he said, the Saudi Gazette reported.