New Delhi, July 12 -- King Salman gave his son more power.

Royal decrees published by state media appointed Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman to the additional post of Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources, placing two of the kingdom's most consequential economic portfolios in a single pair of hands. In the same order, Bandar Alkhorayef was removed as Industry Minister and named Acting Governor of the General Authority for Military Industries, filling a seat left vacant by Ahmed Al Ohali's dismissal.

The consolidation arrives as Saudi Arabia faces a test it was not designed to absorb at this speed. The Strait of Hormuz formally closed on Saturday after Iran's Revolutionary Guards struck a Cyprus-flagged container ship, re...