The biggest player in the market - Saudi Arabia - wants to diversify its economy to become less dependent on oil. This marks a dramatic shift from decades of policy that regarded oil in the ground as a national legacy that had to be produced conservatively to protect the interests of future generations of Saudis. The role of safeguarding future prosperity under a new Saudi policy would fall instead to a sovereign wealth fund - similar to those set up by several other oil exporting countries, such as Norway, but far larger - called the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Revenue from this PIF, not oil alone, would fund investment in a diverse economy. To start the PIF, money and assets need to be found, and by far the largest would be state-owned Saudi Aramco. The firm’s role will alter utterly.
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