Kuwait’s Haitham Al-Ghais to succeed Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo as OPEC Sec-Gen

Kuwait’s Haitham Al-Ghais will on August 1, 2021, assume office as Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary General.

The announcement was made at a meeting attended by President Jean-Richard Itoua, Congo’s Minister of Hydrocarbons.

Al-Ghais, of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) will succeed Mohammed Barkindo, a former Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

OPEC said his appointment was in accordance with Article 28 of the OPEC Statute and in application of the procedure decided at the 182nd Meeting of the Conference on December 1, 2021.

The tenure of the incumbent Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at KPC is for a period of three years.

Al-Ghais was Kuwait’s OPEC Governor from 2017 to June 2021, chaired the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) of the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) in 2017 and subsequently served as a JTC member until June 2021.

The organization hailed Barkindo for his leadership during his two-term tenure as Secretary General, beginning on August 1, 2016 and ending July 31.

OPEC said his efforts are credited with helping to stabilize the global oil market since the market downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and providing a platform for recovery.

Barkindo held a number of key roles at OPEC between 1986 and 2010, including as Acting Secretary General in 2006.

He helped to produce the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto protocol as the leader of Nigeria’s technical delegation to the UN negotiations in 1991.

“He has remained a key contributor to the UNFCCC process, including most recently at the 26th Conference of Parties (COP) meeting in Glasgow in October and November 2021″, OPEC added.