But the style of policymaking seems set to change in a number of important respects.
Modern Communications
Falih is likely to enjoy far less autonomy than predecessors like Naimi and Yamani.
The deputy crown prince has made clear that he has overall control of oil policy and intends to take a more active interest than previous rulers. Falih will be a respected adviser but the ultimate decisions will be taken by the royal court.
In other respects, Falih is likely to usher in a more modern, technocratic and professional approach. Falih comes from a younger generation but modernisation is also very much in line with the new approach being pushed by consultants from McKinsey and encapsulated in the government's Vision 2030 plan.
One of the biggest changes, and most welcome, could come in the energy ministry's communications with the media and the markets.
For decades, the kingdom's price and production strategy have been communicated through non-attributable briefings given to favored journalists and analysts by "a senior Gulf OPEC source."
The result of this selective briefing system, which is unlike any practiced in other commodity and financial markets, has been confusion and a lack of clarity, with much dissatisfaction on both sides.
An entire cadre of "OPEC watchers" has grown up to help interpret Saudi policy, similar to the old "Kremlin watchers" and "Fed watchers" of the 1980s, with all the attendant uncertainty and lack of clarity.
In the last two years, under Naimi and his advisers, the Saudis have already taken some tentative steps towards greater openness, for example releasing transcripts of important ministerial statements.