沙特石油部長阿里納伊米離任的背后

Speculation about Ali al-Naimi’s retirement has beena favourite guessing game in the oil market for wellover a decade. Many Saudi-watchers have beenforced into embarrassing recantations afterpredicting the oil minister’s demise. As governmentreshuffles have come and gone, the octogenariantechnocrat has remained the one constantpresence.

十多年來，阿里•納伊米(Ali al-Naimi，見上圖)何時退休一直是石油市場最愛猜的一個謎。許多沙特觀察人士都曾在預(yù)測這位沙特石油部長即將去職后被迫尷尬地收回前言。沙特政府成員不斷洗牌，然而這位年逾八旬的技術(shù)官僚一直穩(wěn)居其位。

With last year’s change of regime in the world’s largest oil exporter, however, it was only amatter of time before the ministry welcomed a new face.

但去年這個世界最大石油出口國發(fā)生政權(quán)更替后，沙特石油部長之職迎來新面孔就只是時間問題了。

Mr Naimi’s position had become untenable in recent weeks after he appeared to have beenoverruled by Mohammed bin Salman, the 30-year-old son of King Salman and the man whoholds the main levers of power in the state today.

最近幾周，納伊米的地位似乎變得難以為繼。此前，沙特國王薩勒曼(King Salman)30歲的兒子、現(xiàn)在掌握著該國主要權(quán)柄的人——穆罕默德•本•薩勒曼(Mohammed bin Salman)看上去推翻了納伊米的決定。

In the opaque world of Saudi politics, it is hard to know for certain what went on between theminister and the deputy crown prince during last month’s Doha meeting of leading oilproducers, called to agree a production freeze and give a boost to the price.

在沙特不透明的政治世界里，很難確定在上個月主要產(chǎn)油國的多哈會議中，這位沙特石油部長和副王儲之間發(fā)生了什么(該次會議的目的是就石油凍產(chǎn)和油價提升達(dá)成一致)。

But perceptions matter. And Mr Naimi was seen to have consented to a freeze even if Iran —Saudi Arabia’s arch-foe — insisted on raising its own output. The deputy crown prince wasadamant that no deal should be struck without Iran. He made his views public.

但外界看法很重要。在外界看來，納伊米已同意凍產(chǎn)，即使沙特的死敵伊朗堅持要提高本國的石油產(chǎn)出。副王儲則堅持沒有伊朗的參與就不能達(dá)成任何協(xié)議。他公開了他的觀點(diǎn)。

Although the Saudi statement replacing Mr Naimi with Khalid al-Falih was silent on thecircumstances of the change, the departing oil minister had been hoping for some time to gointo retirement but had been held back by King Salman. Either way, the seasoned veteranwhose stewardship of the oil market had won widespread respect would probably havepreferred a more glorious exit.

盡管沙特方面對哈立德•法立赫(Khalid Falih)接替納伊米的聲明在變動原因上保持了沉默，這位即將離職的石油部長希望退休已有一段時間，但被薩勒曼國王阻止。不管怎樣，這位經(jīng)驗豐富的部長對石油市場的管理贏得了廣泛的尊敬，很可能他寧愿用一種更榮耀的方式退場。

Having proposed a radical shift in policy in late 2014, when Saudi Arabia shocked the marketswith a decision to protect market share rather than the price of oil, he has watched the priceslump far further than his ministry or the government had predicted. Officials say theirexpectation was that the price would settle at $60-$70 a barrel.

2014年末，沙特保護(hù)市場份額而非石油價格的決定讓市場為之震驚，當(dāng)時提出根本性政策轉(zhuǎn)變的納伊米見證了石油價格的暴跌，跌幅遠(yuǎn)超他所在的沙特石油部或者沙特政府所預(yù)測的程度。官員們表示，他們當(dāng)時的預(yù)測是油價會穩(wěn)定在每桶60到70美元。

The crash has jolted Riyadh into action to wean the country off its reliance on oil but it hasalso sparked domestic criticism that the gamble was not worth taking. The rebound sinceJanuary — oil has gained about 50 per cent from its $30 low — has been a small consolationfor Mr Naimi.

這次沖擊促使利雅得采取行動逐漸減少該國對石油的依賴，但也引發(fā)了國內(nèi)批評，稱這次賭博不值得進(jìn)行。1月以來油價的反彈——從每桶30美元的低點(diǎn)上升了約50%——對納伊米來說是一個小小的慰藉。

Markets will be relieved that the oil ministry will remain in the hands of a well-regardedtechnocrat — Mr al-Falih, chairman of state oil company Saudi Aramco, had previously beentipped for the position. Unlike Mr Naimi, he is part of the inner circle of Prince Mohammed.Both he and the deputy crown prince agree with Mr Naimi on the broad direction of oil policy,and believe the strategy has been vindicated by the pain suffered by US shale producers,which were always the main target. Those hoping for a change of direction will bedisappointed.

將讓市場放心的是，沙特石油部將繼續(xù)由風(fēng)評良好的技術(shù)官僚執(zhí)掌——沙特阿拉伯國家石油公司(SaudiAramco)董事長法立赫此前就曾被傳將接替這一職位。和納伊米不同，他是副王儲核心圈子中的成員。在石油政策的大方向上，他和副王儲都認(rèn)同納伊米，并且相信沙特一直以來的主要目標(biāo)——美國頁巖油生產(chǎn)商遭遇的痛苦證明這一策略是正確的。那些希望沙特石油政策發(fā)生方向性變化的人會感到失望。

The departure of Mr Naimi, however, underlines that the new order has upended thetraditional relationship between the oil minister and the palace. MbS, as the deputy crownprince is known abroad, has proved hurried and brazen, willing to go where other seniorprinces have feared to tread. While Mr Naimi had a relationship of trust and a large degree ofindependence under the late King Abdullah, in the past year his ministry had come under thepurview of a council chaired by Prince Mohammed.

然而，納伊米的離開凸顯出新秩序顛覆了石油部長和王室之間的傳統(tǒng)關(guān)系。副王儲(在海外被普遍稱為MbS)已證明了自己的魯莽和大膽，愿意去其他更年長的王子害怕涉足的地方。在已故國王阿卜杜拉(KingAbdullah)執(zhí)政時，納伊米曾享受信任關(guān)系和很大程度上的獨(dú)立性，而過去一年，他領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的石油部受到了由副王儲擔(dān)任主席的一個委員會的轄制。

Saudi royals tend to comment little on oil policy, leaving it to the technocrats. Not so underPrince Mohammed, who is deliberately outspoken as he charges ahead with an ambitiouseconomic restructuring plan to diversify away from oil. He has said he pays little heed togyrations in the oil price; he wants Saudi Arabia to thrive without oil.

沙特王室成員往往很少評論石油政策，會把這個問題留給技術(shù)官僚。而副王儲就不是這樣了，在他大力推進(jìn)雄心勃勃的經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)調(diào)整計劃以實(shí)現(xiàn)從依賴石油轉(zhuǎn)向多元化的過程中，他有意直言不諱。他曾說過，他很少留意油價起伏，他希望沙特能在沒有石油的情況下繁榮發(fā)展。

More worrying for the oil market, however, is that recent Saudi actions, not least in Doha,suggest willingness by the palace to allow regional politics and the power struggle with Iran tointrude on oil policy.

然而，更讓石油市場憂慮的是沙特最近的動作，尤其是在多哈。這些動作表明王室愿意讓地區(qū)政治和與伊朗的角力影響石油政策。

The departure of Mr Naimi from the Saudi oil scene marks the end of an era, for the oilmarket as well as for Saudi Arabia.

納伊米退出沙特石油舞臺標(biāo)志著一個時代的結(jié)束，對石油市場和沙特本身來說都是如此。