LONDON: Ahmad Zaki Yamani, the longest-serving Saudi petroleum minister who oversaw the implementation of the oil embargo of 1973, is considered among the towering figures of the global energy market. It is therefore no surprise that his death at the age of 90 on Tuesday was picked up by international news agencies. What is surprising, however, is how many of these reputable media outlets — including ones in Yamani’s native Saudi Arabia — got one major fact wrong about the late minister’s career. Indeed, several major news outlets in the Kingdom referred to Yamani as the first ever secretary general of OPEC. These outlets include the Kingdom’s main business daily Al-Eqtisadiya, the English-language daily Saudi Gazette, the highly quoted Okaz newspaper, news portal Akbaar 24 and even the Saudi Broadcasting Authority’s official state newscaster, Al-Ekhbariya.