Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has been appointed as Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, replacing Khalid al-Falih.

Riyadh announced the move on 7 September.

Prince Abdulaziz is not new to the Energy Ministry. He has been the minister of state for energy, industry and mineral resources since 2017 and was previously deputy minister.

The move to replace the energy minister follows an earlier decision on 30 August to carve out a separate ministry to govern the kingdom’s mineral resources and industrial portfolio from the current Ministry of Energy, Industry & Mineral Resources.

Saudi businessman Bandar Alkhorayef has been appointed to head the new Natural Resources & Industry Ministry.

Al-Falih was also replaced as chairman of Saudi Aramco on 2 September. Yasser Othman al-Rumayyan, the governor of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth entity Pubic Investment Fund (PIF), is the new chairman.