JEDDAH, 21 October — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd restructured the 12-member board of Saudi Aramco yesterday by appointing four new directors, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi continues to serve as chairman of the board of directors during the group’s new three-year term, which starts on Nov. 30.
Saudi Aramco’s board was last reshaped in 1998, when three new appointments were made.
The new faces on Saudi Aramco’s board include Abdul Aziz ibn Ibrahim Al-Manie, minister of state, and president of the Saudi Seaports Authority; Abdul Rahman ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Tuwaijri, secretary-general of the Supreme Economic Council; Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al-Suwayel, vice president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology, and Victor Beghini, former head of US-based Marathon.
The quartet replaces Abdul Aziz Al-Dukhayyil, rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals; Musaed Al-Aiban, minister of state; Osama Faqeeh, minister of Commerce, and Harold Haynes.
Directors returning to the board are Ibrahim Al-Assaf, minister of finance and national economy; Abdullah Juma, Aramco president and chief executive officer; Abdullah Al-Saif, Aramco’s senior vice president for exploration and production; Abdul Aziz Al-Hokail, Aramco’s executive vice president; Sadad Al-Husseini, Aramco’s executive vice president and former international oilmen Rodney Wagner and James Kinnear.
SABIC’s 9-month net falls 37%: Saudi industrial giant Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) said yesterday that its net profit dropped 37 percent to SR1.88 billion ($501 million) in the first nine months of 2001 due to low prices for its products.
The Riyadh-based company, 70 percent owned by the government, made a net profit of around SR3 billion in the first nine months of 2000.
SABIC Managing Director Muhammad Al-Mady attributed the drop in profits to low prices for the products — mainly petrochemicals, fertilizers, plastics and steel.
A SABIC statement said sales reached SR23 billion by the end of September, up from SR19 billion in the same period last year. It said production climbed to SR26.3 million tons from 20.6 million tons.
