OPEC secretary-general Mohammad Barkindo unexpectedly died at the age of 63. The 2016 pact, which united the group with Russia and created OPEC+, was drafted by the native of Nigeria.
Mohammad Barkindo, the secretary-general of OPEC, passed away suddenly on Tuesday night, only hours after visiting Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and speaking at an energy summit in Abuja, Nigeria, according to the Wall Street Journal.
After serving as the senior official of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for six years, Barkindo, 63, was scheduled to step down at the end of July. He gained notoriety for drafting a 2016 accord that welcomed major producers like Russia into the so-called OPEC+ club, which included them as heavyweight producers.
"We lost our esteemed Dr. Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo," Nigerian National Petroleum Corp (NNPC) CEO Mele Kyari tweeted. The death is a "great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC, and the global ...