Sector Profile -

The Basic Law of Saudi Arabia (Royal Decree No. A/90 dated 27/8/1412 H (1 March 1992)) vests all of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas wealth in the Government. The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources (“MEIM”) (previously the Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources) develops and implements policies relating to oil and gas and represents the Kingdom’s oil production and pricing policies internationally. In May 2016, the Kingdom announced reorganisations of the oil and gas sector, including the replacement of oil minister Ali Al-Naimi, who had served in that position since 1995, with Khaled Al-Falih, chairman of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (“Saudi Aramco”), the Kingdom’s national oil company.

The oil and gas sector is, by a significant margin, the most important contributor to the Kingdom’s economy, which traditionally runs a significant annual current account surplus, as well as a major source of the country’s global financial and political influence. The Kingdom has some 265 billion barrels of proven and recoverable oil, accounting for up to a quarter of global oil reserves, and up to 258 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the fourth largest reserves in the world.