Riyadh has appointed Yasser al-Rumayyan, head of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund, as chairman of Saudi Aramco to replace Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, Bloomberg said Monday, citing an unnamed Saudi official.
The move comes a few days after the creation of a new Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources separate from the Ministry of Energy, reducing Al-Falih's role as one of the largest decision makers.
The Reuters news agency said the separation of the energy sector from the sectors of industry and mineral resources came to reduce the broad powers of Falih, who kept the portfolio of energy.
Al-Falih, one of the architects of the diversification plan, oversaw more than half of the Saudi economy through his massive ministry, set up in 2016 to help facilitate new reforms.
But despite ambitious plans for industry and mining, the two sectors have seen little development, according to Reuters reported.
The Wall Street Journal quoted Saudi officials as saying that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman blamed al-Falih for the lack of development in the kingdom's largest sector.
Al-Rumayyan served as Managing Director of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) in September 2015 before briefly serving as a Royal Court Advisor.He joined Aramco's Board of Directors in 2016.