Born to Ibrahim, a pearl diver of the Al-Naimi tribe, and Fatima, a Bedouin of the Ajman, his parents became divorced during the pregnancy.

[4] Naimi's older brother Abdullah was hired by Aramco in 1944, and attended the Jebel School run by the company.

Abdullah took Ali along to the school, where they learned English, Arabic, and basic arithmetic in the mornings, then worked as office boys in the afternoon.

In 1967, he spent a year in the public relations department, before being assigned as the senior supervising operator for the Abqaiq Field in 1968.

[4]: 93, 95–96, 105, 107–108  Al Naimi was elected a member of board of directors in 1980 and was promoted to the newly created position of executive vice-president of oil and gas affairs in 1981.

[9] In November 2014, still serving as Saudi oil minister and therefore the de facto leader of OPEC, Naimi became the primary advocate for the export organization's controversial new strategy.

[10] In 2016 he announced that in the next years more investment will be made in renewable energy and solar technology, as he sees great potential in this area.

[4]: 290  Ali received an honorary degree from Seoul National University and there is an A. I. Naimi Road at S-Oil's Onsan refining complex.