New Saudi energy minister was longtime Aramco chief

Riyadh: Khaled al-Falih, named by King Salman on Saturday to head a super ministry of energy, industry and mineral resources, was the longtime chief of state oil giant Saudi Aramco.

From 2009, he was Aramco's president and chief executive officer, in charge of about 60,000 employees at the firm which produces roughly one in every eight barrels of the world's oil supply.

In May last year, Salman tapped Falih to become health minister as part of an earlier government shuffle, but he also stayed on with Aramco as chairman during a dramatic global decline in oil prices which left Saudi Arabia with a record budget deficit last year.

The plunging oil revenues have accentuated a drive for economic alternatives in the world's biggest oil exporter, which on April 25 released a wide-ranging "Vision 2030" plan aimed at transforming the economy away from its dependence on crude.

The government reorganisation announced on Saturday by Salman reflects these new priorities which include greater efficiency in state administration.

Falih will head the broader Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources as the kingdom tries to boost industry -- from petrochemicals to defence -- and alternative energy sources while mining is expected to take on a greater role in the economy.

Falih replaces Ali al-Naimi who headed the now defunct Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources and who will become an adviser to the Royal Court.

There was no immediate word on a replacement for Falih as chairman of Aramco, which is to be partly listed on the stock market as a foundation of the Vision 2030 plan.

According to an official biography, Falih, whose date of birth was not given, earned in 1982 a mechanical engineering degree from Texas A&M University in the United States.

In 1991 he graduated with an MBA from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in his homeland.

Prior to assuming the presidency of Saudi Aramco, from 2007 he was its executive vice-president of operations.