Abdullah Tariki

Saudi Arabia state institutions Nationalism 1919.3.19.–1997.9.7. ○ Heart attack

The "Red Sheikh": Saudi Arabia's first oil minister and a co-founder of OPEC

Born in Al Zulfi in Najd, Tariki studied geology and chemistry at Cairo University and petroleum engineering at the University of Texas. Appointed director-general of petroleum and mineral affairs in the finance ministry in 1954, he processed Aramco's production statistics and was one of the earliest critics of Aramco, arguing that the US companies should consult more with Saudi officials. A Nasserite and Arab nationalist, he called for a constitutional monarchy and the nationalisation of Arab oil. At the first Arab Petroleum Congress in Cairo in 1959 he met Juan Pablo Pérez Alfonzo, and the two became founding members of OPEC in September 1960. He became the first oil minister in December 1960, was dismissed in March 1962 and went into exile in Beirut, where he founded an oil consultancy and the journal Arab Oil and Gas.

Also known as: Abdullah al-Tariki · Abdullah al-Turayqi