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Haitham Al Ghais takes office as OPEC Secretary General

He was appointed for a three-year term at the special meeting of the OPEC Conference held on January 3

by Gulf Business

August 2, 2022

Haitham Al Ghais took office as Secretary General of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) at the Organisation’s Secretariat in Vienna, Austria.

He was appointed by acclamation for a three-year term at the special meeting of the OPEC Conference held on January 3. He succeeds the late Secretary General of OPEC, Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo.

In a career spanning 30 years, he has served as Kuwait’s Governor for OPEC from 2017 to 2021. He was also a member of the Organisation’s Internal Audit Committee, which he later chaired.

Al Ghais was a leading member of Kuwait’s delegation to the meetings of OPEC and the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) between OPEC member countries and non-OPEC oil-producing countries.

OPEC today welcomed its new Secretary General, HE Haitham Al Ghais of Kuwait. HE Al Ghais was appointed by acclamation for the post for a three-year term at the Special Meeting of the OPEC Conference held on 3 January 2022. pic.twitter.com/5s92R3BUOE

— OPEC (@OPECSecretariat) August 1, 2022

He was the first chairman of the DoC’s Joint Technical Committee following the inception of the historic framework in December 2016. Al Ghais is also a veteran of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC). He served at KPC’s offices in Kuwait, Beijing, China and London. Before taking the position of OPEC Secretary General, he was the Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at KPC.

In a statement to state news agency WAM, Al Ghais extended his sincere thanks and gratitude to the UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan for the UAE’s support of his candidacy. He also expressed his appreciation to Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, and other proponents who helped garner the support of all OPEC member states, leading to his election last January.

Al Ghais added, “Today, we open a new page of cooperation, driving OPEC’s rise to higher levels in the face of future roadblocks, in order to meet the various challenges in the energy arena in general, and the oil markets in particular, where many challenges, are still affecting some regions of the world.”

The new OPEC Secretary General concluded by saying that “the UAE will host the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) next year, a platform that will enable OPEC member states to voice their opinions of oil-producing countries on energy transition.”