A Conversation with His Excellency Ali al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

His Excellency Minister Ali Ibrahim Al-Naimi has been Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources for the kingdom of Saudi Arabia since August 1995. Prior to being appointed Minister, he had served as chief executive officer of Saudi Aramco for seven years. Minister Naimi has spent his career in energy exploration and production, beginning in 1947 as a foreman with Saudi Aramco, and progressing through the ranks as an assistant superintendent, superintendent and manager, before moving into the Exploration Department in 1953. He was appointed vice president of Aramco in 1975, senior vice president in 1978 and was elected as an Aramco director in 1980. He became executive vice president of Operations for Aramco in 1982, and then company president in 1984. He was named as the chief executive officer for Aramco in 1988.
 

Minister Al-Naimi studied at the International College and the American University in Beirut, Lebanon, from 1956 until 1963. He earned his B.Sc. in Geology from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania in 1962 and a master’s degree in Geology from Stanford University in 1963.