Lagos — Nigeria’s Mohammed Barkindo was Monday re-elected as Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC, for a fresh three year term.
He was re-elected at the 172nd meeting of the OPEC Conference in Vienna, Austria, during which the organisation extended its oil supply cuts with its allies led by Russia until March 2020.
The former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, was first elected to the OPEC Secretary General position in August 2016.
Barkindo has been instrumental to the success of the OPEC and non-OPEC members’ oil supply cuts under an agreement referred to as the Declaration of Co-operation, DoC.
At the meeting on Monday, OPEC agreed to extend oil supply cuts until March 2020 in order to prop up the price of crude amid a weakening global economy and soaring U.S. production.
The move will likely anger U.S. President Donald Trump, who has demanded OPEC leader Saudi Arabia supply more oil and help reduce prices at the pump if Riyadh wants U.S. military support in its standoff with arch-rival Iran.
Benchmark Brent crude has climbed more than 25% so far this year after the White House tightened sanctions on OPEC members Venezuela and Iran, slashing their oil exports.
OPEC and its allies led by Russia have been reducing oil output since 2017 to prevent prices from sliding amid soaring production from the United States, which has overtaken Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top producer.
Fears about weaker global demand as a result of a U.S.-China trade spat have added to the challenges faced by the 14-nation organisation.