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The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ headquarters in Vienna. PHOTO | AFP
By REUTERS
In Summary
A Nigerian oil technocrat has emerged as frontrunner
to take the top job at OPEC, with members seeing Mohammed Barkindo as
what would be a rare compromise candidate to lead the group amid rising
tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
Barkindo has been a key face of the Nigerian oil industry
for the past decade, during which various governments tried and
effectively failed to reform national oil company NNPC.
Today, Nigeria has alongside Venezuela become one
of the main victims of oil's price collapse, with the country's output
declining sharply due to militant attacks on pipelines and
infrastructure.
OPEC is likely to choose Barkindo, a former head of
NNPC, as the next secretary-general of the producer group, three
sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries has since 2012 been looking for a replacement for Libya's
Abdullah al-Badri, who was elected acting secretary-general in December
until the end of July after serving full terms.
However, Barkindo's appointment was by no means
certain and Badri's tenure could yet be extended by another six months,
some sources said.
Rivalries between OPEC heavyweights Saudi Arabia,
Iran and Iraq have so far prevented the group from choosing candidates
proposed by those countries.
OPEC oil ministers meet on Thursday in Vienna. The
consensus of all members - which in the past has sometimes been elusive -
is required for the appointment of a new secretary-general.
Barkindo led the Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation from 2009 to 2010 and served as acting secretary-general of
OPEC in 2006 after the original Nigerian nominee, junior oil minister
Edmund Daukouro, took over the rotating OPEC presidency.
Barkindo also served on OPEC's economic commission
and held various high-ranking positions during a career at NNPC that
spanned over two decades.
He was deputy managing director of the Nigerian
Liquefied Natural Gas Company, a joint venture between NNPC, Shell Gas
BV, Total and Eni.
He was also head of NNPC's London office, managing
director of NNPC's oil and gas trading division, and an NNPC group
executive director.
"He's a reasonably safe pair of hands and good for a
more administrative role like secretary-general. He also knows the
ropes at OPEC from when he was Lukman's (right-hand man)," a senior
industry source with close ties to Nigeria said.
Rilwanu Lukman was influential in Nigeria's oil
industry for many years. He served as oil minister during military rule
and later as secretary-general to OPEC and special adviser on oil to
former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
"Don't expect any fireworks, either positive or negative," the industry source said
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