Abdullah Tariki

Abdullah Tariki
Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources
In office
December 1960  9 March 1962
Prime MinisterKing Saud
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byAhmed Zaki Yamani
Personal details
Born
Abdullah ibn Hamoud Tariki

(1919-03-19)19 March 1919
Zulfi, Emirate of Nejd and Hasa
Died7 September 1997(1997-09-07) (aged 78)
Cairo, Egypt
NationalitySaudi Arabian
Alma mater

Abdullah Tariki (19 March 1919–7 September 1997) (Arabic: عبدالله الطريقي), also known by the alternate spelling of his last name as al-Turayqi and nicknamed the Red Sheikh, was a Saudi politician and government official. He served as the first oil minister of Saudi Arabia, appointed by King Saud, and was co-founder of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Historian Eugene Rogan called him "one of the first Arab oil experts." In April 1959, Time magazine described him as "the unquestioned spokesman of the new generation of Arab experts on oil."