The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries announced on Monday it has picked veteran Kuwaiti oil executive Haitham al-Ghais to become the organization's secretary-general from August.
Al-Ghais is set to replace the outgoing OPEC's head Mohammed Barkindo and lead the organization in recovering from the coronavirus crisis during his three-year term. Al-Ghais currently serves as Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation.
Commenting on Barkindo's work, the OPEC said in a statement that he "has been instrumental in expanding historical efforts to support sustainable oil market stability through enhanced dialogue and cooperation with many energy stakeholders... These efforts are widely credited with helping to stabilize the global oil market since the unprecedented market downturn related to the COVID-19 pandemic."