Khalid A. Al-Falih

Khalid A. Al-Falih ( ; born 1960) is Minister of Investment of Saudi Arabia since 25 February 2020. He served as Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia and chairman of Saudi Aramco. He also has previously served as the Saudi Arabian Health Minister and Aramco's CEO. Early life and education Al-Falih was born in 1960 in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, where he was also raised. He attended Texas A&M University, graduating in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and later pursued an MBA at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, which he completed in 1991. Early years at Aramco: 1979–2008 Al-Falih joined Saudi Aramco (formerly, Aramco) in 1979. For over several years, he held positions of increasing responsibility and in 1992, he joined the Consulting Services Department (CSD). He supervised several technical units, mainly the Mechanical and Civil Systems Division and was named manager of CSD in January 1995. He was assigned as manager, Ras Tanura Refinery Maintenance Department in late 1995; and by 1998; manager, Business Analysis Department. In July 1999, Al-Falih became president of Petron Corporation, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the Philippine National Oil Company. He returned to the Kingdom in September 2000 to serve as vice chairman on the Saudi Aramco Study Team for Upstream Gas Ventures, until his appointment as vice president of Gas Ventures Development and Coordination in May 2001. He played an instrumental role in the negotiations with the international oil companies (IOCs) & other major national oil companies (NOCs) in connection with the Kingdom's Natural Gas Initiative. Ultimately, four joint ventures, namely – South Rub' al-Khali Company (SRAK), Luksar Energy, Sino Saudi Gas & EniRepSa Gas were consummated between Saudi Aramco and various leading IOCs, Nocs and emerging oil companies.