As Barkindo’s Tenure Winds Down, Kuwaiti Tipped to Take over at OPEC

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

After successfully managing some of the most challenging times in the global oil and gas industry, Nigerian-born Sanusi Barkindo, would around July 2022, step down from his current position as the Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), THISDAY learnt yesterday.

By the rules, Barkindo would have fully completed his two three-year terms as secretary general, the maximum officially permitted by the organisation.

The former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is mostly reputed to have during his time helped with the creation of the OPEC+ alliance in late 2016.

In addition, his deft management of the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the oil and gas industry aided the relatively stable outlook of the critical oil market today.

However, a Kuwaiti candidate has been tipped to take over as the organisation’s top diplomat and was said to have widespread support from the group’s members, delegates told Bloomberg.

The executive at Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, Haitham al-Ghais, was said to have the backing from a number of nations to succeed Barkindo as secretary-general, the delegates, who asked not to be identified discussing an internal matter.

The global oil producers’ group would vote on the selection on January 3, and the chosen candidate would take over the job in July, THISDAY gathered.
Al-Ghais is currently the only nominee for the role after Iraq, which had planned its own nominee, decided not to proceed.

Delegates said al-Ghais is widely respected by member nations, having served as Kuwait’s liaison to OPEC a few years ago.

“He’s very smart, and a good analyst,” Bloomberg quoted Johannes Benigni, Chairman of Consultant JBC Energy Group in Vienna as saying.

While OPEC secretary-generals don’t set the organisation’s production policy, they do act as an intermediary seeking compromise between the group’s often-fractious members.

The OPEC+ pact brokered by Barkindo brought in non-members such as Russia, revitalising OPEC’s fading influence in world oil markets, and has stabilised supply and demand for the past few years.

The Yola, Adamawa-born OPEC chief, has further through the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) succeeded in rallying members of the coalition to voluntarily agree to taper production in the heat of the virus last year, a development that has been a game-changer for the market.

Oil prices have since exited the negative territory, for some blends at the time, and are almost hitting the $80 mark as of this week.

OPEC+ will meet Jan. 4 to consider whether to continue restoring production halted during the pandemic as it had done since August, gradually returning 400,000 barrels to the market every month.

Barkindo, born 20 April 1959, has since August 1, 2016, been the secretary general of OPEC and had previously served as acting secretary general in 2006.

He represented Nigeria on OPEC’s Economic Commission Board during 1993–2008, led the NNPC between 2009 and 2010, and has headed Nigeria’s technical delegation to UN climate negotiations.

The OPEC helmsman is part of a group of Nigerians who currently have leading roles in continental and global organisations. The list includes the Director of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Amina Mohammed; and Afreximbank President, Prof. Benedict Oramah and President/CEO of African Finance Corporation (AFC), Samaila Zubairu, among others.