King Salman of Saudi Arabia Becomes New Oil Minister In Government Shake-Up

King Salman

Saudi King Salman replaced his long-serving oil minister as part of a major government overhaul which comes as the kingdom grapples with a slump in energy revenues. The shakeup follows last month's announcement of an ambitious plan to transform Saudi Arabia's economy to reduce its dependence on oil.

Ali al-Naimi, who held the post of oil minister for more than two decades, was one of the most powerful figures within the OPEC oil cartel. But recently his influence appeared to have been curbed by the growing power of Salman's son Prince Mohammed who has taken charge of economic policy.