1. Home
  2. Saudi King names his son Abdulaziz as new energy minister

Saudi King names his son Abdulaziz as new energy minister

Agencies
September 8, 2019

Riyadh, Sep 8: Saudi Arabia's King Salman has appointed his son Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman as the new energy minister of the country, the state media said on Sunday.

Citing a royal decree, Saudi Press Agency reported that the new minister will replace Khalid al-Falih. This will be the first time when a member of the ruling Al Saud family will be holding the post of the energy minister of the world's top oil exporter.

The new energy minister is an older half-brother to the crown prince, Mohammad Bin Salman, and an experienced oil industry figure in Saudi Arabia. He has been the minister of state for energy affairs since 2017.

Prince Abdulaziz is a longstanding member of the No. 1 crude exporter's delegation to the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), with decades of experience in the oil sector, Al Jazeera reported.

The move comes as Brent crude oil trades below USD 60 a barrel, well below the USD 80 to USD 85 a barrel that analysts say is needed to balance the Saudi budget.

Sources from the energy ministry were quoted as saying that the prince's lengthy experience has overcome what has always been seen as the impossibility of appointing a royal to the post of energy minister in Saudi Arabia, according to Gulf News.

Saudi Arabia has had five oil ministers since 1960, however, none of them had been a royal.

Last month, Saudi Arabia created a ministry for industry and mineral resources and separated it from the Kingdom's energy ministry.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 30,2020

Riyadh, Apr 30: Saudi Arabia on Thursday recorded 1,351 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 22,753, the Ministry of Health said in a statement.

The ministry also announced 5 more deaths and 210 new recoveries, raising the total number of fatalities and recoveries to 162 and 3,163 respectively.

Riyadh with 440 cases topped the list, followed by 392 cases in Makkah, 120 in Jeddah and 119 in Madinah.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 10,2020

Dubai, Apr 10: Saudi Arabia reported 364 new coronavirus cases and three new virus-related deaths, the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The total number of confirmed cases in the Kingdom is 3,651, out of which 2,919 are currently active, the ministry added.

Out of the new cases, 90 were recorded in Mecca, 78 in Medina, 69 in Riyadh, and 54 in Jeddah, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the number of fatalities rose to 47, while th number of recoveries reached 685.

The daily number of confirmed cases in Saudi Arabia has not peaked yet, and has been rapidly accelerating.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health had said earlier this week that four different studies showed that the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom could reach between 10,000 to 200,000 within weeks.

The ministry spokesman emphasized the urgent need for citizens and residents to remain at home and maintain social distancing practices to ensure that the virus does not spread further.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 17,2020

Jerusalem, May 17: The Chinese ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home north of Tel Aviv on Sunday, Israel's Foreign Ministry said.

No cause of death was given and Israeli police said it was investigating.

Du Wei, 58, was appointed envoy in February in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. He previously served as China's envoy to Ukraine.

He is survived by a wife and son, both of whom were not in Israel.

Israel enjoys good relations with China.

The ambassador's death comes just two days after he condemned comments by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who denounced Chinese investments in Israel and accused China of hiding information about the coronavirus outbreak.

Comments

Add new comment

About text formats
  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.