His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz was appointed Minister of Energy in September 2019. In his capacity as Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia, Prince Abdulaziz is responsible for coordinating the Kingdom’s domestic and international energy policies in line with the goals of Vision 2030. This includes overseeing energy activities within the Kingdom; regulating the oil, gas, electricity, nuclear and renewables sectors in the interests of the Kingdom in the short and long term and directing Saudi international policy with regard to relations with producers (including through OPEC and OPEC+) and with consumers. He has been an active participant in shaping energy policy, both nationally and internationally for more than thirty years.

Prior to his appointment as the Minister of Energy, Prince Abdulaziz served in numerous capacities in the Ministry over the past three decades, including as Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Vice Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Assistant Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Affairs and Adviser to the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.

Prior to joining the Ministry, he was Director of the Economic and Industrial Research Division of the Research Institute at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals from 1985-1987. Over the course of his career His Royal Highness formed multilateral committees, at a technical level, with a number of energy consuming and producing countries, including France, Japan, Korea, Norway, Russia,, the UK and the USA. He initiated a dialogue between OPEC and the International Energy Agency (1990), which ultimately evolved into a broader producer-consumer dialogue. This in turn led to the formation of the International Energy Forum (IEF), in which he headed the team resulting in the establishment of the IEF Secretariat in Riyadh.

Prince Abdulaziz led the Long-Term OPEC Energy Strategy committee and spearheaded the effort to successfully defend the Kingdom’s interests in legal cases involving OPEC countries and other stakeholders in relation to their sovereign right to exploit natural resources. Since he joined the Ministry in 1987, His Royal Highness saw the need for a petroleum studies center, based in Riyadh, and helped to create the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC). He headed the organizing committee for the 2007 OPEC Summit in Riyadh and led the organizing committee for the Jeddah Summit during the 2008 oil crisis. Prince Abdulaziz successfully managed the Kingdom’s defense of antidumping cases brought against Saudi petrochemical companies and served as a member of the Saudi negotiating team when the Kingdom successfully sought to join the World Trade Organization;

To prepare Saudi Aramco for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), His Royal Highness headed the Ministry team that worked successfully to draft the new Hydrocarbons Law for the Kingdom, amending the original Concession Agreement with Saudi Aramco and revising the bylaws of Saudi Aramco.
His Royal Highness held numerous chairmanships and memberships of distinguished organizations prior to his appointment as Minister of Energy. His past chairmanships include being Chairman of the founding committee of the International Energy Forum (IEF), Chairman of Board of Directors of the Saudi Energy Efficiency Center (SEEC), Chairman of the Board of Directors of Tarshid (National Energy Services Company) and Chairman of the Board of the Saudi Arabia National Committee of the World Energy Council (WEC). His Royal Highness is a member of the Government’s Higher Committee for Hydrocarbons, Chairman of the board of King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy (K.A.CARE) and is Chairman of the Nuclear & Radiological Regulatory Commission (NRRC). In addition, he sits on the Board of Governors of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (UK) and on the Advisory Council of the International Association for Energy Economics (USA). He is a member of organizations including the Institute of Petroleum (UK), International Association for Energy Economics (USA), the International Institute for Strategic Studies (UK), the Oxford Energy Policy Club (UK), the Royal Institute of International Affairs (UK) and the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies (UK).

His Royal Highness holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) (1985) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Management (1982), both from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals.