Saudi Arabia’s King Salman replaced country’s Energy Minister with one of his own sons Sunday, naming Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to one of most important positions in country as oil prices remain stubbornly below what is needed to keep up with government spending. new energy minister is an older half-bror to 34-year-old Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and replaces Khalid al-Falih, who’d been in role since 2016. Prince Abdulaziz is an experienced oil industry figure in Saudi Arabia. He has been minister of state for energy affairs since 2017 but is t kwn to be close to Prince Mohammed, king’s most powerful son and heir to throne.

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First prince to he important energy ministry 

His appointment marks first time a Saudi prince from ruling Al Saud hes important energy ministry. move comes as Brent crude oil tres under $60 a barrel, well below $80-$85 range that analysts say is needed to balance Saudi budget. kingdom’s new energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz, has a lifetime of experience in Saudi Arabia’s oil sector. In his 20s he became an viser to energy ministry in 1985 before being named deputy oil minister in 1995, a position he held for nearly a dece. He n served as assistant oil minister until 2017, when he was named  minister of state for energy affairs. He holds degrees from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.

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Khalid al-Falih was reportedly out of favour with Prince Mohammed

Al-Falih’s top role in country’s vital energy sector h been curtailed in recent days, signalling a possible rift with crown prince over his manment of various issues, including kingdom’s plan to sell shares in state-owned oil company Aramco. Al-Falih was removed just days ago from his post as board chairman Aramco, a company that he once ran as CEO. Al-Falih h also seen his Cabinet portfolio diminished recently when mining and industry were removed from his purview and spun off into a new ministry. Al-Falih’s diminishing role h led to reports that he was out of favour with Prince Mohammed, who is pushing to diversify Saudi ecomy away from its dependence on oil revenue for survival. A key part of crown prince’s plan is to list as much as 5% of Aramco by 2020 or 2021, which would make it world’s biggest IPO ever. Aramco’s new board chairman is finance-minded Yasir al-Rumayyan, who hes Public Investment Fund, country’s sovereign wealth fund. Al-Rumayyan is also a close viser to crown prince. Higher oil prices t only help Saudi Arabia balance its budget, but also directly affect Aramco’s overall valuation as it hes toward a potential listing.

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Al-Falih played a key role 

Al-Falih, who’d taken over energy portfolio from longtime oil minister Ali al-Naimi, was tasked with playing a key role in Prince Mohammed’s ecomic overhaul of country. He expressed concern in January at an energy forum in Abu Dhabi over “range of volatility” in oil prices seen over past two to three years. To keep oil prices from sliding even furr, he led Saudi Arabia’s curb on production in OPEC and oil cartel’s agreement with or major oil producers, like Russia, to cut production in past years. major oil producers have agreed to curb production this year by 1.2 million barrels a day, with Saudi Arabia as kingpin of OPEC shouldering bulk of cartel’s cuts.

Still, Saudi Arabia’s diversification efforts have struggled to take off as government spending reaches an all-time high of $295 billion this year. Also on Sunday,   king issued a royal decree removing current deputy minister of energy, Abdulaziz al-Abdulkarim. He did t name a new deputy energy minister. king did, however, name Osama bin Abdulaziz Al-Zamil as deputy minister for new Ministry of Mining and Industry. decrees, issued early Sunday, were published by state-run Saudi Press ncy. 

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