Cut out the middle man? I read that he was responsible for making oil deals with western countries. Or maybe this was intentional to kill off any previous deals to further restrict the oil supply?
Khalifa also suffered a stroke back in 2014 remained in poor health, and was kept out of the public. Some believe that he died years ago but that it was kept secret.
He had been ill for a while before he died, the guy who was confirmed as his successor today has been ruling in his stead for a long time already
Great, business as usual then.