A hotly anticipated shake up at Qatar Petroleum (QP) finally materialized late last week: Saad Sherida al-Kaabi – a widely respected technocrat who has served as QP’s director of oil and gas ventures since 2006 – has replaced Energy Minister Muhammad al-Sada as managing director. MEES examines the implications of Mr al-Kaabi’s rise.

QP’s prior board structure – dominated as it was by Energy Minister Muhammad al-Sada, was not conducive to efficient decision-making. All questions of strategy had to be approved by Mr Sada, whose various commitments often kept him away from QP duties. (CONTINUED - 1154 WORDS)