Saudi Aramco—transition, transition, transition

Saudi Arabia increases emphasis on expanding non-oil sources of energy

Saudi Aramco is deeply embedded in the kingdom's DNA. It's almost impossible to think of Saudi Arabia without it. So it seemed something akin to heresy for a Saudi columnist to urge young Saudis to "prepare for the post-Aramco era of new-energy companies". A post-Aramco Saudi Arabia? Perish the thought. While the writer may not have meant literally that a time would come when Aramco would cease to exist, he was making the point that the company's traditional role—and the energy scene in the kingdom and the world at large—is in a period of transition. Oil is no longer the guaranteed life-long gold standard that it used to be. Saudi Aramco itself is well aware of the need for change. Chief exe