Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi (; born 2 August 1935) is a Saudi Arabian politician who was the Saudi Arabian Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources from 1995 to 2016.
Early life and education
Naimi was born in Ar-Rakah in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. Born to Ibrahim, a pearl diver of the Al-Naimi tribe, and Fatima, a Bedouin of the Ajman, his parents became divorced during the pregnancy. As a consequence, Naimi was born into and lived the first eight years of his nomadic life with his mother's and stepfather's tribe. From the age of four, he tended the family's flock of lambs. His mother divorced his stepfather when Al-Naimi was eight, and Al-Naimi left the Ajmani tribe to live with his father in Al-Hasa.
Naimi's older brother Abdullah was hired by Aramco in 1944, and attended the Jebel School run by the company. Abdullah took Ali along to the school, where they learned English, Arabic, and basic arithmetic in the mornings, then worked as office boys in the afternoon. Finally, on 6 December 1947, Ali was hired as a junior clerk, but still attended school in the mornings.
Naimi also attended advanced management courses at Columbia University in 1974 and Harvard University in 1979. being the first Saudi to hold that position. In 1988 Al-Naimi assumed responsibilities as CEO.
In December 2010, the Saudi Supreme Petroleum Council, chaired by King Abdullah, asked Naimi to nominate candidates to succeed him as oil minister.
In November 2014, still serving as Saudi oil minister and therefore the de facto leader of OPEC, Naimi became the primary advocate for the export organization's controversial new strategy. He argued that the oil market should be left to rebalance itself at lower price levels, strategically rebuilding OPEC's long-term market share by ending the profitability of high-cost US shale oil production. In 2016 he announced that in the next years more investment will be made in renewable energy and solar technology, as he sees great potential in this area. Naimi completed his service as oil minister in May 2016, as deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman took on a stronger role in Saudi oil policy.
In 2016 Naimi published his memoirs with the title Out of the Desert. The book gives insight into the domestic infighting and the future of Saudi Aramco.
Other positions
Naimi is chairman of the board of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). His autobiography was published in November 2016.