LONDON KUWAIT: OPEC's secretary general-elect told Reuters on Monday that the group's pact with Russia and other outside producers was in the wider interest of the oil industry.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has agreed to appoint Haitham al-Ghais, a former Kuwaiti governor, as its new secretary general, replacing Nigeria's Mohammad Barkindo, who has held the position since 2016 and helped to clinch the deal with non-OPEC.
Al-Ghais will take over the role on August 1 after Barkindo's two three-year terms ends.
Since 2017 when it was set up, the Declaration of Cooperation DoC was created by the OPEC and other oil producers, which has helped to support the global market. Oil prices rebounded due to record OPEC output cuts in April 2020, as the pandemic hit demand.
That is one of my top priorities - to support the continuation of the Declaration of Cooperation, al-Ghais told Reuters, if he supported keeping the pact into 2023.
It's in the interest of the industry and all 23 countries that have signed up to this agreement. The producers have been easing their output curbs in line with the April 2020 pact, which OPEC has agreed to say until the end of the year. They are expected to confirm another increase in supply in February when they meet on Tuesday.
Al-Ghais, a Kuwait Petroleum Corp. veteran and Kuwait's OPEC governor from 2017 to June 2021, is currently serving as Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at KPC.
He said he was proud and humbled by the support he received at the OPEC meeting. He said that everyone was so supportive and kind with their words.
His appointment, early into a meeting lasting about an hour, contrasts with previous protracted elections when several OPEC countries had nominated candidates.
Al-Ghais said that he brought a strong commitment to the role as well as the experience of OPEC panels such as the Joint Technical Committee JTC and the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee JMMC, which study the market and helps the full group of OPEC ministers decide policy.
He said that his personal commitment and Kuwait's commitment to the DoC is unwavering. Since 2017 I haven't missed a single meeting, even when I had a broken leg. I've attended all of these meetings. Al - Ghais also said that he was brought up in a diplomatic family - his father was a Kuwaiti ambassador - gave him useful experience, as did working in Kuwait's foreign ministry earlier in his career.
It has given me a taste of how to act diplomatically and how to bring diplomacy into the equation - that's another plus to the position and that will help me in this journey hopefully when I take over in August, he said.
One of the key roles of a secretary general is to be a diplomat.