Saudi Arabia: Life after Naimi

Attention is turning to the prospect that Saudi Arabia’s petroleum and mineral resources minister Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi, who turns 80 in September, might retire sooner rather than later – possibly by the end of 2015. Naimi, who joined Aramco in 1947, was seen as close to the late King Abdullah Bin Abdelaziz, who on several occasions is believed to have asked him to stay on, despite the industry veteran’s preference of retirement. King Salman Bin Abdelaziz has so far retained an official who is seen by commentators as the most influential non-royal in government, but elsewhere the incoming faction has shown a marked taste for making sweeping changes to the apparatus and personnel of government.