The candidacy of Kuwaiti representative Heissam al-Ghais for appointment to the post of OPEC secretary general from August 1, 2022 will be discussed at a meeting of cartel ministers in December, Kuwaiti Minister of Oil and Higher Education Mohammad Abdel Latif al-Fares told reporters on the sidelines of the ADIPEC-2021 International Oil and Gas Exhibition in  Abu Dhabi.

“Yes, this issue is on the agenda,” he confirmed, answering the relevant TASS question.  Al-Fares also noted that OPEC is discussing other candidates, but did not name them.

 Since August 2016, the 62-year-old Nigerian politician Mohammed Sanusi Barkindo has held the post of OPEC Secretary General, who has worked with OPEC as a representative of Nigeria since 1986.  His term expires at the end of July 2022.  According to the OPEC charter, the Secretary General is elected for a term of three years, with the possibility of re-election once.

 Al-Gais, clarifies TASS, headed the Kuwait delegation to OPEC from 2017 to 2021, «played an important role in the implementation of the declaration of cooperation» of the OPEC+ countries, especially in 2017, «when the basic mechanisms of the agreement were laid down».  Al-Ghais graduated from the University of San Francisco in California with a degree in political science, worked in oil companies and the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry.

 The OPEC ministerial meeting is scheduled for December 1, 2021.