OPEC Secretary General, Mohammad Barkindo Passed Away Unexpectedly
Last night, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo passed away unexpectedly at the age of 63. His Excellency Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria had been Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for the past six years and was due to hand over to Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait in early August.
His Excellency Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo passed away at the age of 63. / Picture: © OPEC - Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Last night, OPEC Secretary General Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo passed away unexpectedly at the age of 63. Mele Kyari, Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, announced on his Twitter account.
"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," Kyari said.
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.
— Mele Kyari (@MKKyari) July 6, 2022
Mohammad Barkindo is a native Nigerian and was in his home country at the time of his passing, where he met with Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the President of Nigeria, immediately before his sudden death. President Buhari expressed his gratitude to Barkindo and called him a worthy ambassador of the country of Nigeria.
"You have indeed been a worthy ambassador of our country. We are proud of your achievements before and during your tenure at OPEC and of the proud legacy you will leave behind," President Buhari said, unaware that his counterpart would not live to see the coming morning.
Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo's background
His Excellency Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo of Nigeria had been Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for the past 6 years and was due to hand over office to Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait in early August, Vindobona reported.
Previously in 2006 he served as OPEC's Acting Secretary General and chaired the ECB - Economic Commission Board during the period 1993-2008. He also led the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation during 2009-2010.
Barkindo has received numerous awards and honours for his achievements and life's work. He was recently awarded the Silver Decoration of Honour with Sash of the Republic of Austria by Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen to honour his achievements during his two terms as Secretary General of OPEC, Vindobona reported.
He was also made a Distinguished Fellow of the Atlantic Council this year in April. Read this Vindobona article if you want to know more about it.
In 2018, he was awarded the Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah Energy Award for Lifetime Achievement for the Advancement of OPEC at a ceremony in Doha, Qatar. The award recognised the Secretary General's role in the adoption of the "Declaration on Cooperation", which brought about profound change in the global oil industry.
Mr Barkindo had extensive knowledge and years of experience in the oil and gas industry, both in Nigeria and internationally. He was Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) from 2009 to 2010.
Prior to that, he was Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, a joint venture between NNPC, Shell, Total and Eni. Earlier in his career, he was Special Assistant to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources and OPEC Secretary General, H.E. Dr Rilwanu Lukman.
Barkindo also held several key positions at OPEC between 1986 and 2010. In 1986, he was appointed to the Nigerian Delegation to OPEC and from 1993 to 2008, he served as Nigeria's National Representative on the Executive Committee of the Organisation's Economic Commission.
In 2006, he served as OPEC's Acting Secretary General and represented Nigeria on OPEC's Board of Governors from 2009 to 2010.
As head of Nigeria's technical delegation to UN negotiations since 1991, he was also involved in the drafting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol.
He was also Vice-President of COP15 in 2010, when he chaired the opening session in Copenhagen, attended by more than 100 heads of state and government. He is the longest serving member of the country's delegation to the UNFCCC. He also chaired the OPEC Task Force of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development for the 15th Session of the UNFCCC.
After earning a bachelor's degree in political science from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Barkindo went on to earn a post-graduate diploma in petroleum economics and management from the College of Petroleum Studies at Oxford University and a master's degree in business administration from Southeastern University in Washington, DC.