Kuwait Nominates Former No. 2 Envoy to Serve as OPEC Secretary General

Kuwait has nominated its former OPEC governor, Haitham al-Ghais, to serve as the organization's secretary general, according to sources -- the first contender to succeed Mohammed Barkindo, whose term expires in July. The next secretary general will be taking over as the producer group and its allies, including Russia, should be close to fully tapering their historic output cuts implemented through the pandemic, with the hope that the global economy will be fully recovered. The secretary general is OPEC's public face and is responsible for convening meetings, including extraordinary meetings, and running the day-to-day affairs of the secretariat in Vienna.

Ghais has been the vice president of international marketing with state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp. since June. Prior to that, he was Kuwait's No. 2 OPEC envoy as its governor for several years, including serving on the Joint Technical Committee that has advised the larger OPEC+ alliance. No other OPEC delegation has put forward a nominee so far, said the sources, who asked not to be identified. The position, which under OPEC rules can serve two three-year terms, must be confirmed unanimously by the 13 countries in the organization -- a politically fraught exercise that has often led to stalemates. Barkindo himself was a late compromise candidate in 2016, when the battle to succeed Abdalla el-Badri, a Libyan, dragged on for three years, making him the longest serving secretary general. Barkindo, whose term was renewed in 2019, did not respond to a request for comment.