The Governor of the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), Yasir Al-Rumayyan, has been appointed as the new Chairman of Saudi Aramco.

Al-Rumayyan replaces the Saudi Minister of Energy, Khalid Al-Falih, who congratulated his successor in leading the Saudi oil giant.

Besides his role on top of the Saudi sovereign fund, Al-Rumayyan, was already a board member in Aramco.

The move is seen as another step towards the highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) of Saudi Aramco, as separating it from the Ministry of Energy avoids any conflict of interests.

The move follows the appointment of Yasir al-Rumayyan, head of the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, known as the PIF, as chairman of Aramco, replacing Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih

Meanwhile, Saudi Minister of Transport, Nabeel Al-Amudi, has been appointed as a new board member in Aramco.

Saudi Aramco is reportedly considering a plan to split its IPO into two phases, with the first taking place in the local Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) before the end of 2019, and the second being held in an international market, mostly the Japanese stock exchange, in 2020 or 2021.