The Nigerian secretary-general of the oil cartel OPEC, Mohammed Barkindo, died Tuesday evening. Barkindo met with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari earlier in the day, who praised him for his work at OPEC.
His death was announced by the Nigerian state oil group NNPC. The cause of death has not been reported. Barkindo, 63, has been secretary-general of the Organization of the Oil Exporting Countries since 2016. He was about to resign. He is succeeded at OPEC by Haitham al-Ghais from Kuwait.
Buhari had told Barkindo that he had led OPEC well in challenging times, such as the corona crisis. The president said Barkindo has been a “worthy ambassador” to Nigeria.
After the outbreak of the corona crisis, oil prices plummeted. OPEC and its allies, including Russia, subsequently limited oil production to prop up prices. OPEC+, as the alliance is called, has been gradually increasing production for some time now due to the high demand for oil due to the economic recovery from the pandemic.