Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo re-appointed as Opec secretary for a fresh three year tenure

FORMER Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) managing director Mohammed Barkindo has been re-appointed as the secretary general of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) for another three years.

Mr Barkindo, born on April 20 1959 in Yola, Adamawa State, was first appointed as Opec secretary on August 1 2016. He previously served as Opec acting secretary general in 2006 and represented Nigeria on Opec’s Economic Commission Board between 1993 and 2008 when he worked for the NNPC.

He rose up the ranks within the NNPC to become its group managing director in 2009 and served in the position until 2010. Yesterday, at its annual general meeting in Vienna, Austria, the Opec general assembly decided to extend his tenure until 2022.

At the meeting, Opec also approved a nine-month extension of the ongoing global oil production cuts in a bid to rally prices. Opec’s supply cuts, which Russia and several other non-member countries are also observing, were put in place on a temporary basis at the beginning of 2017 and are credited with helping stop a dramatic multi-year slide in oil prices.