OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo dies at 63, official says

Vienna, Jul 6 (EFE).- The secretary general of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Barkindo, has died at the age of 63, an official said Wednesday.

“We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo. He died at about 11pm yesterday 5th July 2022,” Mele Kyari, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation group chief executive officer and compatriot, tweeted.

“Certainly a great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC and the global energy community. Burial arrangements will be announced shortly.”

Barkindo assumed the OPEC role on Aug. 1, 2016, elected by consensus by all members of the Vienna-based organization, who reappointed him for a second term three years later.

He was the fourth Nigerian to hold the position.

According to the statutes of the organization, a person can only remain for two terms of three years in the highest position of the organization that today has 13 member countries.

Since Barkindo’s final term was due to expire on the 31st of this month, the group had already appointed his replacement, Kuwaiti Haitham al-Ghais. EFE

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