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Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman of Saudi Arabia spent a long time in his old age as a minister-in-charge. But just six days after he was the first to do so, oil production in the kingdom was cut in half by several eagles that set fire to the world’s largest hunting grounds.
The attack of Abqaiq in September 2019, which Riyadh and Washington criticized Iran, was initially tried by Prince Abdulaziz, the son of King Salman and the brother of the emperor’s famous prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
As oil prices rose by 20%, the prince was flogged by secret planes from London to eastern Saudi Arabia, after which he announced that the empire would be able to conserve oil while repairing the damage.
Oil traders saw prices go up. But while Prince Abdulaziz may have a chance at the moment, the trials have not stopped since.
Less than two years later he was due to walk the Saudi Aramco roster in late 2019; the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic; the last surviving precious war with Russia; followed by President Donald Trump’s call for the empire to change course and improve global oil production.
His supporters say the 61-year-old prince, who has been married for 34 years and has three children in his 20s, has proven himself fit for the job. “Had it not been for his experience, it would have shocked the energy minister,” said Bassam Fattouh at the Oxford Institute for Energy Study, where Prince Abdulaziz lives.
But for his opponents, Prince Abdulaziz has his weaknesses, including trying out the two biggest tests that were behind him.
Rising oil prices – Brent nonsense went up above $ 70 barrels this week – they are not welcome at all when the fear of inflation returns to the end. And his dismissal this week on the International Energy Agency’s “road map” for a better future La La Land has led him to be at odds with the changing attitudes of the industry and ultimately taking the climate change seriously.
Its outspoken leader often intervenes in such situations to reveal a proud, arrogant response to criticism or skepticism in connection with his royal position. “You don’t know what kind of Abdulaziz you will find,” said a former Opec official. “There are some meetings where they sit high and happy and some just lose their temper in other countries.”
Young and well-known as an academic, Prince Abdulaziz describes himself as a low-key but intelligent advertiser who wants to form an alliance. Years of working for technocrats such as former ministers Ali Al Naimi and Khalid Al Falih, people close to him say, is a sign of his aggression even though he was a prince given a great privilege.
Yet he enjoys appearing at press conferences and acts as the head of Opec and directly in the Saud House to get what he wants.
Last year he warned traders who were trying to gamble against Saudi Arabia’s oil policies that they would “cry like hell”. This week he said he wanted to bring “fortune tellers” to the oil market “on their knees”.
He pressured other Opec members to increase compliance with his offer. But he also praised those who are doing this, and made one Opec rally open fire in Iraq, which is often left behind, just before it hits what it wants.
“They tend to be unpredictable – to some extent they are considered unreliable,” says Christyan Malek, chief oil research officer at JPMorgan.
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Matters come to a head when he is asked to comment on political affairs, often by Prince Mohammed, his most influential boss.
At a Davos conference last year, a UK television group asked what they would say about Prince Mohammed taking part in a phone call to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. As he followed the procession, Prince Abdulaziz called the interrogation line “insulting” and the journalist was “stupid” before briefly removing his microphone.
He did not say anything about the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, which the US has admitted to Prince Mohammed, although their relationship is not thought to be close according to people who know Prince Abdulaziz.
Partners can focus on his home electronics project and assess the current relationship between Saudi Aramco and the energy ministry.
But when western oil companies return to throwing old oil under pressure from climate change, the empire is not closing its curfew.
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Prince Mohammed wants to suspend Saudi Arabia’s economy by relying on oil, but Prince Abdulaziz sees an opportunity to increase production capacity, believing the world will need more oil all the time.
Amrita Sen, a researcher for Energy Aspects, says Prince Abdulaziz “thinks critically” about the current crisis in the world. “She cares about the electrical sector. He thinks a lot about this. ”
But any pressure to reduce new oil operations, as outlined in IEA net zero maps, is unlikely.
“Anyone who has said this [together], “Said Prince Abdulaziz this week,” does not agree with reality. “
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