NEW YORK (AA) – Saudi Arabia’s long-serving oil minister was removed from his post Saturday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
Ali al-Naimi, 81, had been a leading opponent of lowering oil production in the face of falling prices.
He was replaced by Khalid Al-Falih, chairman of state oil company Saudi Aramco, the world’s largest petroleum firm.
The removal of al-Naimi – who served as oil minister from 1995 – by royal decree came three weeks after an oil summit in Qatar where oil producing states agreed to freeze production levels to raise prices.
However, the deal collapsed when Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, an increasingly influential figure in Saudi politics, insisted the country would not cut oil output unless regional rival Iran did the same.
Oil prices have dropped sharply since mid-2014 due to a glut in supply, severely harming the budgets of oil-dependent countries such as Saudi Arabia, where oil accounts for around 80 percent of state revenue.
According to the decree, al-Naimi will become an advisor to the royal family with the rank of minister.
Prince Salman recently announced a plan to wean the kingdom off its oil dependency. The proposal includes selling Aramco shares to generate revenue for a $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund.
