Ahmed Zaki Yamani
Ahmed Zaki Yamani | |
---|---|
أحمد زكي يماني | |
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources | |
In office 9 March 1962 – 5 October 1986 | |
Preceded by | Abdullah Tariki |
Succeeded by | Hisham Nazer |
Personal details | |
Born | Mecca, Saudi Arabia | 30 June 1930
Died | 23 February 2021 London, United Kingdom | (aged 90)
Alma mater | Cairo University New York University Harvard Law School University of Exeter |
Ahmed Zaki Yamani (
With degrees from institutions including New York University School of Law, Harvard Law School, and a doctorate from the University of Exeter, Yamani became a close adviser to the Saudi government in 1958 and then became oil minister in 1962. He is known for his role during the 1973 oil embargo, when he spurred OPEC to quadruple the price of crude oil.
In December 1975, Yamani and the other OPEC ministers
Yamani was dismissed as the oil minister by King Fahd in October 1986. In 1990, Yamani founded the Centre for Global Energy Studies, a market analysis group, and remained involved in private investments and cultural foundations.
Early life and education
Ahmed Zaki Yamani was born in
Yamani's grandfather was Grand Mufti in Turkey.[2] The Yamani surname originates from Yemen from where his paternal ancestors originated.[1]
Yamani earned a bachelor's degree in law at
Career
Yamani returned to the Saudi Ministry of Finance, joining the new Department of Zakat and Income Tax.
In 1962 the General Petroleum and Mineral Organization (
As oil minister of Saudi Arabia, Yamani took an important role in the development of the newly created OPEC. Faced with the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Yamani spoke against the use of an Arab oil embargo.[9][10] The 1967 embargo was ineffective, although the experience led to a consideration of the possible political benefits of an Arab-only oil organisation.[10] Yamani took the lead role in the development of this idea and in 1968 the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) was joined by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Libya. Several other countries joined in 1970 and Egypt, Syria, and Iraq joined in the early 1970s.[11][12]
1973 oil crisis
During the
The production cutbacks, increased to 25 percent in November, affected the economic health of all Western powers.
On 22 December, the Persian Gulf members of OPEC met again in Tehran where the Shah, backed by the other states, urged that the price of oil be raised to over $20 a barrel.[23][24] Yamani opposed this extreme increase, but could not contact Saudi Arabia from Tehran. Fearing a split in OPEC, Yamani decided on a compromise that put oil at $11.65, four times the price of a barrel prior to 16 October.[25][26][27] Following progress with Arab-Israeli disengagement agreements, a decision was taken to end the embargo, which was formally lifted on 17 March 1974.[28]
Saudi Arabia continued to push for price reductions from the $11.65 level, opposed by other OPEC members. This increasingly came to be seen as a pro-American stance by the other producers, although defended by Yamani as a safer option for the world economy. Saudi Arabia has been criticised for using its dominant position to force its own interests and its long-term production strategy, as a lower price enables the country to keep a high market share and discourages development of alternative energy sources that would curtail the worldwide demand for oil.[29] To this point, Yamani famously said in 1973: "The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stones."[30] (However, the quote may have been wrongly attributed by this and other sources.)[31]
Assassination of King Faisal
On 25 March 1975, King Faisal was shot dead by his nephew
1975 hostage siege
On 21 December 1975, Saudi Arabia's Yamani, Iran's
Carlos arranged bus and plane travel for his team and 42 of the original 63 hostages, with stops in
Some time after the attack, Carlos's accomplices revealed that the operation was commanded by
Continuation of Saudi oil policy
At an OPEC meeting in September 1975 in Vienna, Saudi Arabia continued to oppose sharp increases in the price of oil. Yamani was required to gain approval from Crown Prince Fahd for any increase to be agreed in excess of 5%. Unable to contact Saudi Arabia from Vienna, Yamani left the meeting and flew to London on his private jet in order to find a secure telephone. This incident was widely publicized.[35]
At an OPEC meeting in May 1976 in Bali, Iran and seven other members advocated a 20% increase in oil prices to match inflation, although Saudi Arabia favoured a six-month price freeze.[36][37] The Iraqi oil minister fiercely criticised Yamani and Saudi Arabia for pro-Western policy, which led to Yamani leaving the meeting and demanding an apology.[38][39] This was settled and the six-month price freeze was agreed.[40][41]
Six months later, OPEC assembled in
In 1979, the
Removal from office
The panic buying during the 1979 energy crisis led to increased oil stocks which began to flood the market and resulted in price wars between oil-producing nations competing for market share. This in turn led to reduced income for Saudi Arabia.
The beginning of Fahd's rule was marred by the reduced oil income caused by the
At an OPEC meeting in October 1986, Fahd sent his oil minister a cable demanding Saudi Arabia's oil quota to be increased and the price of oil set at $18, which Yamani refused to sign. On 29 October 1986, a brief announcement was made on Saudi television that Yamani had been dismissed.[2] He was replaced by Hisham Nazer.[53]
Other activities
In July 1982, Yamani founded
Personal life
Yamani married his first wife Laila Sulaiman Faidhi, an Iraqi, in 1955.[59][60] Together they had three children.[60] Yamani's first daughter, Mai Yamani, was born in 1956, followed by second daughter Maha in 1959, and first son Hani in 1961. Mai studied anthropology and is now an author and scholar, and a former Research Fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs. Maha received a law degree from Cambridge, and Hani a degree in business administration.
Yamani married his second wife Tamam al Anbar on 23 March 1975, and had five children: Faisal (born 1976), Sharaf (born 1977), Sarah (born 1979), Arwa (born 1981), and Ahmed (born 1983).[2]
Yamani was fluent in Arabic, English,[60] and French. His negotiation style, as remarked on by Henry Kissinger, was to wine and dine other dignitaries until the point of fullness and lethargy, before beginning protracted negotiations (Reader's Digest, circa 1970).
Yamani died of heart failure[1] on 22 February 2021 in London, aged 90, to be later buried in his hometown, Mecca.[18]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g h McFadden, Robert D. (23 February 2021). "Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Former Saudi Oil Minister, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021.
- ^ a b c d Kechichian, Joseph A. (9 April 2012). "King Faisal's lieutenant on world stage". Gulf News. Archived from the original on 28 November 2014. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ a b c d e "His Excellency Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani". CGES. Archived from the original on 16 April 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ "Saudi Arabia – OIL INDUSTRY". countrystudies.us. Archived from the original on 8 December 2020.
- ^ "King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals University". www.unipage.net. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020.
- from the original on 27 September 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ Gamal, Rania El (23 February 2021). "Yamani, the Saudi oil minister who brought the West to its knees". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021.
- ^ from the original on 16 July 2015.
- ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1964–1968, Volume XXXIV, Energy Diplomacy and Global Issues – Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021.
- ^ "A Membership of Arab Oil Exporting Countries | OAPEC". www.oapecorg.org. Archived from the original on 8 October 2018.
- ^ Epstein, Edward Jay (1 March 1983). "The Cartel That Never Was". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 5 December 2019.
- ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-137-49058-2.
- ^ "OPEC enacts oil embargo". HISTORY. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021.
- from the original on 23 June 2020.
- ^ a b c d Gambrell, Jon (23 February 2021). "Long-serving Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani dies at 90". AP News. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Sheikh Yamani Arriving at London Airport". AP Archive. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Who Is Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Who Was Kidnapped By The Fox And Ordered By An Arab President To Execute Him ?! | A Nation Is Tweeting Out Of Tune". Prime Time Zone. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- JSTOR 43580710.
- from the original on 31 October 2020.
- ISBN 978-0-932885-01-2.
- ^ Adelman, MA. "The First Oil Price Explosion 1971–1974" (PDF).
- ^ Corporations, United States Congress Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Multinational (1973). Multinational Corporations and United States Foreign Policy: Hearings Before the Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations of the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate, Ninety-third – [Ninety-fourth] Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office.
- ^ "22 December 1973: Opec more than doubles the price of oil". MoneyWeek. 22 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021.
- ^ "40 years after the Arab oil embargo, America still loves its petroleum". The World from PRX. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020.
- ^ Peter Waldman (12 April 2015). "Saudi Arabia's Plan to Extend the Age of Oil". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on 24 February 2017.
- ^ Matt Frei (3 July 2008). "Washington diary: Oil addiction". BBC. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
- ^ Garson O’Toole (7 January 2018). "The Stone Age Did Not End Because the World Ran Out of Stones, and the Oil Age Will Not End Because We Run Out of Oil". Quote Investigator. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
The earliest close match located by QI appeared in July 1999 in the London periodical The Economist within an article about fuel cell technology. Don Huberts...
- from the original on 7 December 2020.
- ^ a b c Patrick Bellamy. "Carlos the Jackal: Trail of Terror". truTV. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 15 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-1559704663. Archivedfrom the original on 3 May 2016.
- ISBN 978-1-84694-256-3.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Guide to the Giuliano Garavini Collection AD.MC.038". dlib.nyu.edu. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ISBN 978-0-86232-220-5.
- from the original on 20 February 2021.
- ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 24 February 2021.
- ^ United States Congressional Serial Set. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1978.
- ^ "Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXXVII, Energy Crisis, 1974–1980 – Office of the Historian". history.state.gov. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ Annual Report to the President and to the Congress for Fiscal Year ... National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies (U.S.). 1971. p. 21.
- from the original on 24 May 2015.
- ^ "The Lecture for The Prize Chapter 36: The Good Sweating – How Long Can It Go? | EGEE 120: Oil: International Evolution". www.e-education.psu.edu. Archived from the original on 19 April 2016.
- from the original on 10 July 2018.
- ^ Gamal, Rania El (14 October 2014). "Facing new oil glut, Saudis avoid 1980s mistakes to halt price slide". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020.
- ^ "Yamani, the Saudi oil minister who brought the West to its knees". KELO-AM. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- from the original on 30 January 2018.
- ISBN 978-0-7475-7874-1.
- ^ "Saudis fire Yamani as oil minister". Spokane Chronicle. 30 October 1986. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
- ^ a b "Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Who Helped Lead 1973 Oil Embargo, Dies". Bloomberg.com. 23 February 2021. Archived from the original on 23 February 2021.
- from the original on 24 February 2021.
- from the original on 26 May 2015.
- ^ "Vendome Luxury Group Buys Vacheron Constantin Watches". WWD. 13 December 1996. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
- ^ "Introduction by Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Chairman and Patron". Al Furqan Foundation. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Black, Ian (March 2021). "Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani obituary | Saudi Arabia | The Guardian". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
- ^ a b c "A. Zaki Yamani" (PDF). CIA. 15 May 1974. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 November 2010. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
Further reading
- Aburish, Saïd K. 1994: The Rise, Corruption and Coming Fall of the House of Saud. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 0-7475-2040-2
p. 7 "Oil Minister Yamani, whose moderate oil-pricing policies made him the most unpopular man in his country..." - Robinson, Jeffrey. 1989: Yamani The Inside Story. London: Fontana Press. ISBN 0-00-637408-5
- BBC News, Defining moments: Sheikh Yamani
- Country Studies. Oil Industry, Saudi Arabia
- Perez, Carlos. The Decay of the Angel (Vacheron & Constantin)