The term of office of the Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Muhammad Barkindo, ended with his death yesterday, Tuesday, at the age of 63, according to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation announced Wednesday 6 july
Barkindo, 63, was scheduled to step down at the end of this month, after he had been OPEC Secretary-General for six years.
During the tenure of Muhammad Barkindo, including Russia, OPEC joined ten other countries in the “OPEC Plus” alliance in 2016 with the aim of regulating the market.
Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo was born on April 20, 1959 in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria. He studied political science at Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria, where he held a Bachelor’s degree. He also holds a Diploma in Petroleum Economics from the University of Oxford, Britain, and a Master of Business Administration (specializing in financial and banking sciences) from the University of Washington, USA.
Barkindo experienced a period of difficult turmoil in global energy markets, as well as transformations in the organization’s relationship with other prominent players in this market, as the “OPEC +” alliance was established with him assuming the position of Secretary-General of the organization.
The “OPEC +” agreement came against the backdrop of a crisis situation in the oil market since the collapse of crude prices in 2014. The market experienced a significant decline for several reasons that came together at the same time, the most important of which was the dramatic rise in US shale oil production.
Barkindo sought to persuade the United States to enter this alliance to help coordinate policies related to the energy market, and visited Washington for this purpose in December 2016. But the United States did not respond, especially since the alliance had attracted a major rival, Russia
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