Mohammed Barkindo

Mohammed Barkindo, former Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC was on Thursday appointed as the Secretary General of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC.

Barkindo will become the new secretary-general of OPEC starting from August 1, the head of the Public Relations & Information Department at OPEC said.

“The Conference decided to appoint Mr. Mohammed Barkindo as Secretary-General of the Organization with effect from August 1, 2016 for a period of three years,” Hasan Hafidh told reporters after an OPEC oil ministers’ meeting in Vienna. He will replace current OPEC Secretary-General Abdalla Salem el-Badri.

Speaking on his agenda soon after he was appointed, Barkindo said OPEC intends to continue strengthening cooperation with non-cartel oil producing states, especially Russia to stabilize global oil prices.

“We intend to strengthen our relations with non-OPEC and particularly Russia. I think there is a consensus among ministers at the conference that the dialogue and cooperation between us and the non-popes community is to be strengthened. That would be one of the priorities to go forward,” Barkindo told reporters.

He added that the issue of introduction country oil output quotas for members OPEC should also be discussed, head of the cartel said.

“I think, it is pretty much worth to discuss it at the moment,” Barkindo told reporters.