making, regulation and operations is essential. In Saudi Arabia, the policy making and regulation are the prerogatives of the Ministry of Petroleum, and Minerals, while operations are left to Saudi Aramco. The Supreme Council of Petroleum and Mineral affairs, besides being the effective General Assembly of the national oil company, sets also the strategic objectives of the sector. These roles are well defined in the royal decrees establishing and setting the objectives and responsibilities of the Council and Saudi Aramco. With such well defined mission, Saudi Aramco has independent financial structure, paying royalties and taxes to the treasury according to the established tax code and dividends to its shareholder. It has independent organizational structure starting with the Board of Directors drawn from the company's senior management and other outside Saudi and non- Saudi members selected on the basis of their accumulated knowledge and experience, which approves and oversees the company's business plan and strategies. The company is then managed along the lines of any other international oil companies in which merit and performance are guiding manpower recruitment and placement. --More 0017 Local Time 2117 GMT
