DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Saudi King Salman has issued a number of royal decrees, including creating a new ministry for natural resources separate from the energy ministry that oversees the kingdom’s vast oil resources.
The Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources was renamed the Ministry of Energy.
A newly created Ministry of Industry and Mineral Resources will be headed by Bandar Al-Khorayef, a top executive at Al-Khorayef Group, a Saudi conglomerate that started in agriculture and irrigation in 1957 and has expanded since to include petroleum pumping systems.
Other decrees named Fahd bin Mohammed al-Essa as chief of the royal court and Aqla al-Aqla as deputy chief of the royal court.
The king also established a National Center for Artificial Intelligence and another for data management.
The royal decrees were announced across Saudi media late Friday.