The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) named a new Secretary-General yesterday, ending Nigerian Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo’s five-year tenure as Secretary-General.
Haitham al-Ghais, the former Kuwaiti OPEC Governor, has received a letter from OPEC designating him in lieu of Barkindo, who took office in August 2016.
With the appointment, the Nigerian feels the global oil market is in extremely good hands.
Barkindo had previously served as acting scribe in 2006, after representing Nigeria on OPEC’s Economic Commission Board from 1993 to 2008.
Also read: Nigeria extends deadline for NIN Registration to March 31
“I know you have a strong awareness of the organs and internal workings of the organization,” he said in his letter, referring to his stint as Kuwait’s OPEC Governor.
The ex-scribe had played crucial roles in the previous two years as OPEC pushed through the oil and gas crisis, assisting in the rebalancing of oil prices from a negative position to about $78 per barrel.
Barkindo had also lately advocated for sustained hydrocarbon investment, saying that diminishing fossil fuel investment will harm the world economy.
He also cautioned that forcing Africa to join the race to net-zero energy could be unjust, noting that the continent requires its own strategy for transitioning to sustainable energy sources.
