Saudi Bureaucratic System and Its Influence on Oil Policy in the 1980s

The unique characteristics of the Saudi bureaucratic system, the so-called “spoke and hub” bureaucratic system, have strained the implementation of Saudi economic policies. During the first half of the 1980s, Sheikh Zaki Yamani, the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, tried to implement its long-term oil policy. Therefore, Saudi Arabia undertook the role of swing producer by reducing its oil production and sustaining a certain level of oil prices. However, Yamani’s oil policy autonomy was severely disturbed by other ministers’ independent interests during this period. Because of the increasing interference from other ministries in this period, Yamani’s oil policy lost its authority within OPEC. The research will demonstrate how this unique Saudi bureaucratic system undermined policy autonomy, particularly Saudi oil policy, in the first half of the 1980s.