Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih ( '; born 1960) is Minister of Investment of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

since 25 February 2020. He served as Minister of Energy of Saudi Arabia and chairman of

Saudi Aramco Saudi Aramco ( ') or Aramco (formerly Arabian-American Oil Company), officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, is a majority state-owned petroleum and natural gas company that is the national oil company of Saudi Arabia. , it is the fourth- l ...

. He also has previously served as the Saudi Arabian Health Minister and Aramco's

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Early life and education

Al-Falih was born in 1960 in

Dhahran Dhahran (, ) is a city located in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. With a total population of 143,936 as of 2022, it is a major administrative center for the History of the oil industry in Saudi Arabia, Saudi ...

, Saudi Arabia, where he was also raised. He attended

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, graduating in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, and later pursued an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

at the

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) is a nonprofit research university in Dhahran, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. Founded near the earliest local oil fields as the College of Petroleum & Minerals (1963) in response to the ...

, which he completed in 1991.

Early years at Aramco: 1979–2008

Al-Falih joined

''(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 Petron Corporation is the largest oil refining and marketing company in the Philippines, supplying more than a third of the country's oil requirements. It operates a refinery in Limay, Bataan with a rated capacity of . From the refinery, Petron ...

, a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and the

Philippine National Oil Company The Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) is an energy company created on November 9, 1973, as a government-owned and controlled corporation founded during President Ferdinand Marcos' era to supply oil to the Philippines. Since then, its cha ...

. 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 A national oil company (NOC) is a petroleum company that is fully or partly owned by the government of a sovereign nation. NOCs produce about half the world’s oil and gas. Due to their increasing dominance over global reserves, the importance of ...

(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. In October 2004, Al-Falih was appointed to the board of directors of Saudi Aramco. He also served as

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of the South Rub' al-Khali joint venture between

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

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and Saudi Aramco.

CEO of Saudi Aramco: 2009–2015

In Nov 2008, Abdallah S. Jum'ah, then president and CEO of Saudi Aramco, retired and Khalid A. Al-Falih, who was serving as Aramco's executive vice president of operations, was appointed as the new president and CEO of the company, effective 1 January 2009. As Saudi Aramco's CEO, Falih headed the ''Manifa project'', an oil field located in a bay along the coast of the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...

. The project includes 27-man-made islands connected by 25 miles of causeways. Upon its launch, it produced 500,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources: 2016–2019

The global oil economy caused prices to fluctuate dramatically, from a peak of almost $108 in June 2014 to $26 per barrel in February 2016, the lowest point since 2003. In May 2016, Al-Falih was appointed Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, replacing outgoing Ali al-Naimi. The national plan Vision 2030 announced in April 2016 is designed to reduce the Kingdom's dependence on oil revenue, a new direction which affected the makeup of Saudi ministries. In the royal decree announcing the appointment of Al-Falih, the former Petroleum Ministry was renamed "Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources," incorporating also the Ministry of Electricity."Saudi Arabia names Khalid al-Falih energy minister to replace Naimi"
by Rania El Gamal & Reem Shamseddine, ''Reuters'', 7 May 2016 Al-Falih also holds the position of chairman of the board of directors of Aramco, whose CEO is Amin H. Nasser. The oil crash caused OPEC countries to react by diminishing production, the organization's first cut in eight years. Minister Al-Falih urged fellow OPEC member countries to stop exceeding their output targets, and met with Venezuelan and Kazakh counterparts in August 2017 in order to extend the deal of cutting production until March 2018, by at least three more months. On 8 September 2019, through a royal decree issued by

King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (; born 31 December 1935) has been King of Saudi Arabia since 2015, and was Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. He is the 25th son of King Abdulaziz, the founder of Saudi Arabia. He assumed the thro ...

, Al-Falih was relieved of his duties as the energy minister. He was replaced by Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the king's elder son, in the post.

Minister of Investment: 2020–present

On 25 February 2020, Al-Falih was appointed by a royal decree as Minister of Investment, a newly created ministry in Saudi Arabia. In 2025 he announced $6.4 billion of investments in President

Ahmed al-Sharaa Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa (born 29 October 1982) also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Abu Mohammad al-Julani, is a Syrian politician and former rebel commander serving as the president of Syria since January 2025. He previously served as the coun ...

's government as it seeks to rebuild Syria after a 14-year civil war. The investment deals included $2.93 billion for real estate and infrastructure projects and about $1.07 billion for the telecommunications and information technology sector, Al-Falih said.

Public life and board memberships

Al-Falih is active in many social programs. He has served as chairman of the

Dammam Dammam (Arabic: الدمام ad-Dammām) is a city and governorate, and the capital of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Located on the coast of the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 1,386,166 as of 2022, making it the country's fifth- ...

City Municipal Council. His board memberships in other community-focused organizations include the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation, the Prince

Sultan bin Abdulaziz Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (c. 5 January 1931 – 22 October 2011) (, ''Sulṭān ibn ʿAbdulʿazīz Āl Suʿūd''), called ''The generous Sultan'' (, ''Sulṭan al Khair'') in Saudi Arabia, was the Saudi defense minister from 1963 to 201 ...

Fund for Supporting Small Business Projects for Women, and the Eastern Province Society for the Handicapped. Al-Falih is a founding member of

King Abdullah University of Science and Technology The King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST; ') is a Private university, private research university located in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia. Founded in 2009, the university provides research and graduate training programs in English ...

and serves as a member of its

board of trustees A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

. He sits on the board of directors of the U.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council and previously served as a member of the

JP Morgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is the largest bank in the United States, and the world's largest bank by mar ...

International Council.

Personal life

Al-Falih currently resides in

. Al-Falih is married to Najah Al-Garawi."Khalid A. Al-Falih Chosen Outstanding International Alumnus"
, Texas A&M University, 2010; archived at

issuu Issuu, Inc. (pronounced "issue") is a Danish-founded American electronic publishing platform based in Palo Alto, California, United States. The company's software converts PDFs into customizable digital publications that can be shared via links ...

Achievements

Al-Falih was listed on the Forbes Most Powerful People for 2016. Forbes' annual ranking of The World's Most Powerful People identifies one person out of every 100 million whose actions mean the most. Al-Falih received the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2013 from Texas A & M University. Established in 1962, the Distinguished Alumnus Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a former student of Texas A&M University. Since its inception, 225 individuals have been recognized for their significant contributions to their professions, Texas A&M University and their local communities. Al-Falih received the Petroleum Executive of the Year Award 2016 from Energy Intelligence. The Petroleum Executive of the Year award is the international energy industry's most prestigious award given in recognition of outstanding leadership by an executive in the international energy industry. Al Falih was presented with the ‘International Oil Diplomacy Person of the Year 2017’ Award at the

Energy Institute The Energy Institute (EI) is a professional organization for engineers and other professionals in energy-related fields. The EI was formed in 2003 by the merger of the Institute of Petroleum (dating back to 1913) and the Institute of Energy ( ...

’s International Petroleum (IP) Week on Feb. 22 in London.

Honors

Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

: 2018

References

External links

Saudi AramcoU.S.-Saudi Arabian Business Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Falih, Khalid A.

Khalid Khalid (variants include Khaled and Kalid; Arabic: خالد) is a popular Arabic male given name meaning "eternal, everlasting, immortal". It also appears as a surname.

1960 births Texas A&M University alumni King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals alumni Petroleum and mineral resources ministers of Saudi Arabia Health ministers of Saudi Arabia Investment ministers of Saudi Arabia Living people People from Dhahran Saudi Aramco Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun