The head of OPEC, the tough cartel that represents many of the world’s largest oil producers, has died at the age of 63.
Mohammad Barkindo died on Tuesday night, a spokesman for Nigeria’s oil said.
The cause of his death is unknown, however, he reportedly died hours after meeting with the Nigerian president and speaking at a power summit in the country.
Barkindo’s term as president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose thirteen member countries account for 80% of the world’s crude oil reserves, will end this month after six years.
He ran the organization through a dramatic drop in oil costs during the pandemic, when at one point some manufacturers had to pay other people to get rid of oil.
Most likely, his legacy will be explained through the OPEC agreement, reached at the beginning of his term in 2016 with Russia and other non-OPEC countries.
The organization particularly cut production to stabilize the price of oil when COVID hit.
However, the deal has come under scrutiny amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the existing high oil costs fueling rising oil costs.
OPEC said it was a “profound loss” for the oil industry and called him a “selfless man of wonderful humility and decency. “
In a statement, OPEC said it had served “with a wonderful difference and helped it effectively weather two major recessions (2015-2016 and 2020-2021). “
In his opening speech in Abuja a few hours before his death, Mr Barkindo said the oil and fuel industry, still reeling from the massive investment losses of recent years, is “under siege”.
“In a very short period of time, the industry has been affected by two major cycles: the severe market slowdown in 2015 and 2016, and the even deeper effect of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
Mr. Barkindo began his career in 1982 at Nigerian Mining Corporation and worked for more than two decades at Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation.
Born in Yola, Nigeria, he studied a postgraduate degree in petroleum economics at the University of Oxford and an MBA at the University of Washington.