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Friday, January 23, 2015
Saudi Arabian state television announced early Friday morning local time that King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz has died at age 90. Over the past couple of months it was reported that he had been undergoing medical tests and was said to be suffering with pneumonia in January.
The successor to the thrown is Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz, Abdullah’s 79-year-old half-brother.
The price of oil jumped on the news of the King’s death. In London futures gained as much as 2.6% and 3.1% in New York. Uncertainty is expected to prevail in the very near-term as speculators wait to see which stance the Crown Prince will take on OPEC production.
On the news of the King’s death, IHS Vice Chairman and Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Daniel Yergin commented: “King Abdullah lived an extraordinary life. He was already 14 years old when oil was discovered in Saudi Arabia in 1938—a little-noticed-event with an impact far beyond what was imaginable at the time. With a keen sense of the geopolitical balance and risks he became the world’s most influential oil decision-maker well into the 21st century.”
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