The Nigerian Mohammed Barkindo, secretary general of OPEC, died on Tuesday night at the age of 63, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced on Wednesday, in which he held various positions.
“We have lost our esteemed Mohammed Barkindo,” tweeted the company’s CEO, Mele Kyari, without revealing the reasons for the death.
“It is a great loss to his family, to the NNPC, to our country, to OPEC and the global energy sector community,” he added.
The news came just hours after a meeting in Abuja with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who highlighted Barkindo’s “brilliant work” at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, where he “managed to navigate turbulent waters”.
In office since 2016, the Nigerian would be replaced in August by the Kuwaiti Haitham Al Ghais.
The OPEC secretary general does not have executive power, but he is the organization’s public figure and is sometimes tasked with mediating discussions between countries with divergent interests, such as Saudi Arabia and Iran.
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