By Nwafor Sunday

Twenty six days after the demise of its former Secretary-General, Mohammad Barkindo, Haitham Al Ghais of Kuwait has on Monday assumed office as the new Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

This was disclosed in a statement by the organization on its verified Twitter handle.

According to the organization: “OPEC today welcomed its new secretary-general, Haitham Al Ghais of Kuwait. Al Ghais was appointed by acclamation for the post for a three-year term at the special meeting of the OPEC conference held on 3 January 2022.

“He, Al Ghais, is a widely respected oil technocrat and OPEC figure with 30 years of experience in the oil sector.

“He advised six Kuwaiti oil ministers on market developments and has served as Kuwait’s governor for OPEC, chairman of the Declaration of Cooperation’s (DoC) Joint Technical Committee (JTC) and Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) deputy managing director for international marketing.”

About late Mr Barkindo

Mr Barkindo was appointed OPEC Secretary-General in 2016, the fourth Nigerian to hold that position

Born April 20, 1959, he passed at 63. He died on the 5 of July 2022.