New Telegraph

Shocks as OPEC scribe, Barkindo, dies weeks to retirement

The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo, has been confirmed dead. His death was announced by the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Limited), Mallam Mele Kyari via his personal twitter account yesterday morning. Kyari wrote: “We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo.

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 was at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Summit currently holding in Abuja and had met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, yesterday, before his death. He would be completing his six-year meritorious service as the OPEC Secretary General on July 31, 2022, after serving for the maximum allowed two terms. At the State House on Tuesday, President Buhari congratulated him as a worthy ambassador of the country. “You have indeed been a worthy ambassador of our country. We are proud of your achievements before and during your appointment at OPEC and the proud legacies you will leave behind.

“Your time in charge of the affairs of OPEC has been a very challenging one for the global oil industry. Oil producers were finding it difficult to come together to address challenges that were crippling the oil market. “Not long after, the world was faced with the COVID-19 pandemic that sent crude prices spiralling down at an alarming rate. You showed incredible leadership to rally industry players and pushed through the turbulent times. “There is no doubt about your efforts in putting together the Declaration of Cooperation which is the largest in the history of OPEC and the global oil industry and also the longest in duration in the history of the organisation. This was a herculean task,” the President said.

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