Abdullah Tariki
- Death date
- 1997
- Associated organizations
- OPEC
- Fields of study
- Petroleum
Biography
Abdullah Tariki of Saudi Arabia was the co-founder of OPEC. After receiving an MS in Geology from the University of Texas at Austin in 1947-one of the first Saudis ever to earn a degree in America--Tariki returned to Saudi Arabia and became that country's first Minister of Petroleum. While in Texas, he had studied the Texas Railroad Commission's oil regulatory activities and became upset with the control over oil prices exerted by Western oil companies. He managed Saudi oil policy first as director general of petroleum and minerals beginning in 1955 and then as oil minister during 1960-62. Along with Juan Pablo Perez Alfonzo of Venezuela, Tariki helped to create the most powerful oil producers' organization in the world in 1960. He would later advise the Libyan government on oil policy in the early 1970s. He died in 1997 at the age of 80.
