Middle East energy giant Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Saudi Aramco) has handed its top legal role to long-serving lawyer David Kultgen, reports Corporate Counsel.

The US-trained lawyer has been with Saudi Aramco, one of the world's largest oil companies, for 37 years, having joined the company from law school in 1973.

In January, he was promoted from deputy general counsel to general counsel and corporate secretary, becoming only the second legal head in the company's history. He replaces Stanley McGinley, another company veteran, who is now serving as the company's senior vice president, on special assignment.

The company, which employs 54,000 staff, has massive oil operations that span Saudi Arabia, including the largest crude oil reserves and the fourth-largest gas reserves in the world, and numerous joint ventures around the globe. The company generated $233.3bn (£155bn) in sales in 2008.

Aside from the seven years he spent in Houston from 1982 to 1989 as a lawyer for Aramco's principal US subsidiary, Kultgen has made the Arabian peninsula his home. He has spent most of his tenure at the company headquarters in Dhahran, a city in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, which borders the Arabian Gulf.

During his long career, Kultgen has specialised in transactional and trade law, and has been a key player in numerous international ventures.

Saudi Aramco's relationships with its external counsel have been the subject of recent market speculation in the wake of a team transfer from regular adviser White & Case to Latham & Watkins.

The team move in February saw Latham secure a large projects and energy team across New York, London and the Middle East in a move that some have argued will affect White & Case's relationship with Saudi Aramco, one of its largest clients.

In response to the departures, White & Case has transferred New York corporate partner Neal Grenley to Riyadh on a temporary basis while the firm looks for a new association, while oil and gas practice leader Wendell Maddrey is to relocate in Dhahran to service the firm's the Saudi Aramco relationship.

Corporate Counsel is a US sister title of Legal Week.