Mohammad Barkindo, a Nigerian political leader and the secretary general of oil manufacturer group OPEC, passed away at the age of 63, simply days prior to he was set to complete his term at the company.
The head of Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, revealed the news in a tweet Wednesday, which was later on validated by 2 sources at OPEC.
“We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo,” a tweet early Wednesday early morning from his validated Twitter manage read.
“He died at about 11pm yesterday 5th July 2022. 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’s unforeseen death came as a shock to members of the oil and gas world, much of whom explain him as a giant in the market.
His profession covered over 4 years and consisted of work at Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation, Duke Oil, Nigeria’s foreign ministry and energy ministry, in addition to OPEC.
Since taking the helm as secretary-general of OPEC in 2016, Barkindo supervised turbulent times for the oil manufacturer group, which saw unstable markets rocked by historical occasions consisting of the Covid-19 pandemic, the development of the OPEC+ alliance with Russia and other non-OPEC states, and Russia’s intrusion of Ukraine.
While the company lost 2 members, Qatar and Ecuador, throughout that time, Barkindo is however credited with assisting unity amongst the group’s members in an effort to support international oil markets.
Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
Aaron M. Sprecher|Bloomberg|Getty Images
Barkindo’s death comes at a time of unstable energy markets, international inflation, growing environment dangers and continued fallout from the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Geopolitical disputes and sanctions have actually resulted in much tighter oil products, pressing costs to multi-year highs in the middle of worries of a worldwide economic downturn.
Barkindo had actually simply been granted a prominent fellowship at the Atlantic Council, set to start upon the conclusion of his term at OPEC on July 31.
Atlantic Council CEO Frederick Kempe had actually formerly explained Barkindo as having “unparalleled expertise on oil markets, security, and governance” and “a deep understanding of geopolitics in a volatile world.”
In a declaration consisted of in the Council’s July 1 statement of the brand-new fellowship, Barkindo had actually stated, “I am deeply honored to have been recognized as a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council … I look forward to contributing to the organization’s work on a plethora of energy-related issues, at a time when the world’s eyes are focused on both short- and long-term energy market outlooks.”
— CNBC’s Emma Graham added to this short article.
