OPEC Secretary Basic Mohammad Barkindo dies at age 63

Mohammad Barkindo, a Nigerian politician and the secretary basic of oil group OPEC, has died at the age of 63.

The head of Nigeria’s Nationwide Petroleum Company, Mele Kyari, introduced the information in a tweet Wednesday, which was confirmed by two sources at OPEC.

“We misplaced our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo,” a tweet early Wednesday morning from his verified Twitter deal with learn.

“He died at about 11pm yesterday fifth July 2022. Definitely an ideal loss to his quick household, the NNPC, our nation Nigeria, the OPEC and the worldwide vitality neighborhood. Burial preparations might be introduced shortly.”

Barkindo’s surprising demise got here as a shock to members of the oil and gasoline world, many of whom describe him as a large in the trade. 

His profession spanned over 4 a long time and included work at Nigeria’s Nationwide Petroleum Company, Duke Oil, Nigeria’s international ministry and vitality ministry, in addition to OPEC.

Since taking the helm as secretary-general of OPEC in 2016, Barkindo oversaw tumultuous instances for the oil producer group, which witnessed risky markets rocked by historic occasions together with the Covid-19 pandemic, the creation of the OPEC+ alliance with Russia and different non-OPEC states, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Whereas the group misplaced two members, Qatar and Ecuador, throughout that time, Barkindo is nonetheless credited with guiding unity amongst the group’s members in an effort to stabilize world oil markets.

—CNBC’s Emma Graham contributed to this text.