Tillerson will need to change course at state

New York

REX Tillerson, who sealed big oil deals and developed close ties with foreign leaders around the globe as head of ExxonMobil, will have to firmly change course to serve as America's top diplomat.

Mr Tillerson, 64, has been chief executive of the world's biggest publicly-traded oil company since 2006, and spent a career going where the hydrocarbons are.