RIYADH: Saudi national oil giant Aramco said on Sunday that five new members had been appointed to its board of directors, including the first woman in the firm’s history.

Lynn Laverty Elsenhans, 60, is the former head of US oil company Sunoco Inc. and has been director of oil services company Baker Hughes since July last year. She has served on the boards of several major oil firms. Forbes ranked her 10th on its list of the world’s 100 most powerful women in 2009.

The new appointments come as the oil-dependent kingdom, faced with persistent budget deficits due to low crude prices, prepares to sell up to five per cent of Aramco in an initial public offering either this year or in 2019.

The kingdom hopes to raise around $100 billion from the IPO, based on a $2 trillion valuation of the company, which controls massive oil and natural gas deposits.

Published in Dawn, April 30th, 2018