Ibrahim AlMuhanna was an adviser to the Ministry of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from 1989 to 2017. He currently works as an energy consultant and serves as vice chair for the Gulf States/Middle East at the World Energy Council. He is the vice chairman of the Saudi Association for Energy Economics and holds a PhD in international relations from American University in Washington, DC.
The geopolitics of energy is like a global chess match—each move reverberates around the world. No one can tell the inside story of Saudi Arabia, the world’s number one oil exporter, and the power plays and intrigue within OPEC like Ibrahim AlMuhanna. -- John Defterios, former emerging markets editor, anchor, and correspondent, CNN This book offers unique insight into the thinking of key decision makers and sheds light on events that continue to shape the oil market to this day. It is indispensable for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the intricate world of energy policy decision making. -- Bassam Fattouh, director of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies A fascinating account of the people who shaped the oil market over the past forty years. An adviser to every Saudi oil minister over that time, AlMuhanna was literally ‘in the room’ to observe many of these leaders, how they made decisions, and the impact of their choices. A must-read for students of energy, geopolitics, and decision making. -- Mark Finley, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy In this book, Ibrahim AlMuhanna reveals for the first time the inner workings of the most important oil supplier in the world, Saudi Arabia. The stories are fascinating, the relationships are complex, and the revelations are stunning. A must-read for anyone in the energy and financial community! -- Gary Ross, chief executive officer of Black Gold Investors LLC and founder of PIRA Energy Group Ibrahim AlMuhanna has had a front-row seat at the center of international oil diplomacy for more than three decades, and he brings his observations and perspectives from those many years of change together in Oil Leaders. -- Daniel Yergin, author of <i>The New Map</i>, <i>The Prize</i>, and <i>The Quest</i> A lexicon of four decades of verbal intervention in the price of crude by the world’s biggest oil-producing nation. . . . Gives away just enough to allow readers a peek behind a curtain that has remained drawn for years. -- Javier Blas * Bloomberg * [AlMuhanna's] revelations of governance and diplomacy are gold dust...such books are all too rare. -- Jim Krane * Financial Times * Offers a rare view inside the Saudi government, providing insight into the forces behind Saudi policy. * H-Environment * AlMuhanna provides recollections of meetings and stories of how negotiations developed, that readers would otherwise not have access to, as they would neither be recorded nor available in archives. * International Affairs * Oil Leaders reveals the agency of individuals. Too often the perception is that impersonal market forces determine everything, but political leaders do matter and the decisions they make do have an impact. * Survival * Recommended for students and researchers in political science, international relations, and Global Affairs, and economists and business personnel in oil production and marketing. * Arab Studies Quarterly * An unexpectedly candid glimpse into the usually murky world of Saudi oil policy by an unusually knowledgeable guide. * Foreign Affairs *