OPEC votes to appoint Kuwaiti candidate as new sec- general

Agencies | Kuwait City

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) voted to appoint Kuwaiti candidate Haitham al-Ghais as its new secretary-general, four sources from the group told Reuters yesterday.

Al-Ghais -- a multilingual technocrat whose three-decade oil industry career includes stints in Beijing and London -- will become Secretary-General in August, taking over from Mohammad Barkindo, according to a statement from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries yesterday. “

He knows OPEC inside and out,” said Johannes Benigni, chairman of consultant JBC Energy Group in Vienna. “At the same time, he knows the ins and outs of the market. He’s very smart and a good analyst.”

While the secretaries-general don’t set OPEC production policy, they do act as the group’s public face -- and as an intermediary seeking compromise between often-fractious members.

Having previously served as a diplomat, he subsequently held several positions at state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp, most recently as deputy managing director for international marketing. Al-Ghais also acted as the country’s liaison to OPEC from 2017 until last year.

The appointment of a Kuwaiti as OPEC chief marks a shift for the group, which has typically awarded the post to candidates from smaller producers to offset the concentration held by its Gulf heavyweights.

Smaller members will likely monitor whether he can act as a counterbalance to the group’s most influential nation, Saudi Arabia. Al-Ghais was the only candidate and was appointed by acclamation rather than a ballot on Monday.

“I would like to offer my cordial congratulations to HE Haitham Al-Ghais on his appointment, by acclamation, as the next Secretary-General of OPEC,” Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Prince Abdulaziz said in a statement.

As incumbent secretary-general, Barkindo steps down in July after completing the full six years permitted by the cartel’s rules, having played a pivotal role in the creation of OPEC+ in late 2016.

Al-Ghais said a top priority for him is to keep the group’s pact with Russia and other producers in place since it is in the wider interest of the oil industry. The OPEC+ alliance between OPEC and other oil producers, called the Declaration of Cooperation, has helped support the global oil market since 2017 when it was set up.

“That’s one of my top priorities - to support the continuation of this Declaration of Cooperation,” al-Ghais told Reuters, asked if he supported keeping the pact into 2023. “It’s in the wider interest of the industry and all the 23 countries that have signed up to this agreement.”