Yasser M. Mufti, Executive Vice President of Products and Customers at Saudi Aramco, has been appointed chairman of Saudi Aramco Base Oil Company (Luberef), the kingdom's dominant base oil producer, following the resignation of incumbent Ibrahim Q. Al-Buainain, who cited personal reasons for stepping down. The board approved the appointment on May 22, 2026, with Mufti's membership effective May 24, 2026, though the appointment remains subject to shareholder ratification at the next general assembly.
Al-Buainain, who had served as non-executive chairman since August 2022, submitted his resignation on May 21, 2026. Mufti will serve the remainder of the current board term, which concludes on August 14, 2027. Mufti, also joining as a non-executive director, brings deep experience across Saudi Aramco's downstream operations spanning three decades. No search firm involvement was disclosed in the appointment process. The board recorded its appreciation for Al-Buainain's tenure and contributions.
Mufti's career trajectory reflects extensive exposure to energy markets and corporate transformation. He joined Saudi Aramco in 1995 after five years as a wireline engineer with Schlumberger and has held progressively senior roles including CEO of Aramco Trading, senior vice president of fuels, and vice president of strategy and market analysis. Between 2012 and 2013, he served as Saudi Arabia's governor to OPEC and adviser to the then-Minister of Petroleum, and was appointed chairman of OPEC's Board of Governors for a one-year term in 2013. Mufti led the Strategic Transformation Office responsible for implementing Aramco's corporate transformation program and subsequently created and led Aramco's first mergers and acquisitions function. He holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and an MBA from City University of London, along with an executive development certificate from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Mufti serves as chairman of multiple Aramco subsidiary boards including Valvoline Global, Saudi Aramco Jubail Refinery, and the Aramco Lubricants and Retail Company.
Luberef, established in 1976 as a joint venture between Petromin and Mobil, is Saudi Arabia's sole producer of virgin base oils and ranks among the world's leading suppliers in the sector. The company operates two strategically located refineries in Jeddah and Yanbu with combined annual production capacity of 1.3 million metric tonnes of Group I and Group II base oils. Luberef completed a significantly oversubscribed initial public offering on the Saudi Stock Exchange in 2022, raising $1.32 billion and becoming one of that year's largest IPOs globally. The company reported $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion in annual revenue and maintains a workforce of approximately 1,700 employees across multiple continents, serving major international, regional and national oil companies globally.
Mufti's appointment signals continuity in leadership at the base oil subsidiary while potentially signaling Aramco's confidence in deepening executive bench integration across its subsidiaries. His extensive background in downstream operations and product commercialization aligns with Luberef's strategic positioning within Aramco's ecosystem and its ambitions to establish Saudi Arabia as a regional lubricants hub under the LubeHUB initiative, which aims to attract specialty product producers and investors aligned with Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 mandate. The leadership transition occurs as Luberef navigates post-IPO governance requirements and competes in a mature, price-sensitive global base oil market where supply reliability and customer relationships remain paramount competitive advantages.
