Long-serving Saudi oil minister Ahmed Zaki Yamani dies at 90

Sheikh Yamani helped Saudi Arabia command a dominating presence in OPEC from its birth.

Ahmed Zaki Yamani – a long-serving oil minister in Saudi Arabia who led the kingdom through the 1973 oil crisis and the nationalisation of its state energy company, and later found himself kidnapped by the assassin Carlos the Jackal – has died in London. He was 90. Saudi state television reported his death on Tuesday without mentioning a cause. It said he would be buried in the holy city of Mecca. Known for his Western-style business suits and soft-spoken, measured tones, Yamani helped Saudi Arabia command a dominating presence in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) from its birth. The kingdom remains a heavyweight in the group even today and its decisions ripple through the oil industry, affecting prices from the barrel down to the gasoline pump.