Saudi Aramco senior vice-president Amin al-Nasser has been named acting chief executive of the state oil giant until further notice, Aramco said on its website on Friday.

Nasser has been serving as senior vice-president for upstream operations at Aramco since 2008, according to his biography posted on Aramco’s website. With a degree in petroleum engineering, he joined Aramco in 1982.

On Wednesday, Saudi King Salman appointed Aramco’s previous chief executive Khalid al-Falih as chairman of the state oil firm and health minister, as part of a major reshuffle in the world’s top crude exporter.

“Effective immediately, the authority of the president and chief executive officer, with respect to all functions exercised by him, is herby delegated to Mr. Amin H Nasser until further notice,” an internal Aramco memo signed by Falih on April 29 and seen by Reuters on Friday said.

Saudi Arabia is restructuring Aramco, the world’s biggest energy company, in a move apparently aimed at letting it operate more at arm’s length from the powerful oil ministry.

Citing unnamed sources, Saudi-owned Al Arabiya TV reported on Friday that Aramco would be separated from the oil ministry of the top OPEC member. Separately, Aramco posted a statement earlier saying it now has a new 10-member supreme council headed by the kingdom’s Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Other members of the new Aramco council include Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, Finance Minister Ibrahim al-Assaf, Economy Minister Adel Fakieh, Water and Electricity Minister Abdullah al-Husayen and Aramco’s Falih, according to a copy of a royal decree seen by Reuters on Friday.

Source: Reuters