A three-decade veteran of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s minister of energy, industry and mineral resources can lay claim to be the most powerful and influential man in the global hydrocarbons sector today.

A former CEO of Aramco – of which he is still the chairman – Al-Falih oversees Saudi oil and gas policy, with inevitable significance for the rest of the world. He has overseen a major organisational transformation of the kingdom’s oil and gas sector, and is a trusted confidante of the powerful Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud.

Al-Falih has more responsibilities than any previous oil minister, which is a token of the esteem in which he is held by the Saudi leadership.