Saudi Aramco has restructured its senior management and created a division focused on “portfolio optimization," as it plans to lessen crude prices and seeks new ways to raise cash.

The world’s biggest oil producing company has appointed Senior Vice President Abdulaziz Al Gudaimi to lead a new Corporate Development team that will “assess existing assets" and boost access to “growth markets," it said in a statement on Sunday. He will report to Chief Executive Officer Amin Nasser and assumes his new position on Sept. 13.

“The organization will support rapid and effective decision-making on the company’s portfolio," Aramco said.

Aramco also named Nasir Al Naimi as acting head of the upstream business -- the exploration and production arm -- while Mohammed Al Qahtani will take over the downstream unit, according to media reports. The downstream business involves refining, chemicals, pipelines and fuel retailing, and was previously led by Al Gudaimi.

Earlier this year, Aramco hired advisers for a potential multi-billion dollar sale of a stake in its pipeline business. And Chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan said in February there were non-core assets that could be monetized.

In another sign of Aramco’s changing priorities, it suspended plans for a $10-billion refinery in China, Bloomberg reported last week. The project was unveiled with great fanfare last year.