DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Saudi Arabia on
Saturday announced the ouster of its longtime oil minister as part of a
larger ongoing government shakeup.
A royal
decree announced that Ali al-Naimi has been replaced by former Health
Minister and Saudi Aramco board chairman Khaled al-Falih.
Al-Naimi
has long been a pillar of Saudi oil policy, leading the Ministry of
Petroleum and Mineral Resources since 1995. Prior to that role he'd
served as the president of oil giant Aramco.
Under
a new Saudi leadership led by King Salman, the king's son Deputy Crown
Prince Mohammed bin Salman has largely been overseeing Saudi economic
policy along with a handful of new ministers. The changes announced
Saturday come as the government plans wide-ranging reforms aimed at
overhauling the Saudi economy amid lower oil prices that have eroded
state revenues.
Saudi Arabia's dominant market
share and historical ability to influence prices by loosening or
tightening its taps gave al-Naimi exceptional influence at meetings of
the oil cartel OPEC, where the kingdom is by far the largest producer
and de facto policy-maker. His brief utterances on the sidelines of OPEC
meetings often had the power to swing global oil prices.
Lower oil prices since mid-2014 pushed Saudi
Arabia into a budget deficit of nearly $100 billion last year and a
projected deficit this year of $87 billion. Despite efforts to limit
reliance on its main export, oil accounted for more than 70 percent of
the state's revenue in 2015.
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