DUBAI: Saudi Aramco, the world’s top oil company which is preparing to go public, said on Sunday it has appointed new members to its board including a female executive, a milestone for Saudi Arabia and the oil industry where there are few women executives.
The appointments, which bring in more international experience, come as the Saudi government plans to float around 5 per cent of Aramco in an initial public offering (IPO) – the world’s largest – later this year or early 2019.
Saudi Arabian Minister of Finance Mohammed al-Jadaan and Minister of Economy and Planning Mohammed al-Tuwaijri were appointed as members of the board of directors, Aramco said in a statement.
They are joined by the former chairwoman, president and CEO of U.S. oil refiner Sunoco Inc. Lynn Laverty Elsenhans from 2008 to 2012.
Other new members also include former president and CEO of Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP Peter Cella, and director of DowDuPont Inc Andrew Liveris, and the CEO of the Dow Chemical Company. Liveris’s appointment is effective as of July 1, Aramco said.
The five new members of Aramco’s board will join six returning members including Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih, who is also Aramco’s chairman, and Aramco’s CEO Amin Nasser. Minister of State Ibrahim al-Assaf and Managing Director of the government-owned Public Investment Fund (PIF) Yasir al-Rumayyan also remain on the board.
The outgoing board members are the advisor to the Saudi Royal Court Majid Al-Moneef; Rector of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals Khaled al-Sultan; and former managing director of the World Bank and former vice president of the International Finance Corporation, Peter Woicke.
Appointment decisions to the new 11-member board of directors are made by the Saudi government.
