TEHRAN - Mohammed Barkindo, the secretary general of OPEC, a powerful cartel of oil-producing countries, has died suddenly, the head of the Nigerian state oil corporation revealed on Wednesday.
Mele Kyari, the head of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, tweeted that Barkindo passed away at around 11pm local time on Tuesday. He did not state the cause of death.
According to Nigerian newspaper Business Day, Barkindo was in his home country, Nigeria. He met with President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, and later gave a speech at an oil and gas conference on Tuesday, the paper said.
Barkindo was appointed secretary general of OPEC in 2016.
Iran’s OPEC governor Amir Hussein Zamaninia offered condolences, praising Barkindo as a “nobleman and a scientist”.
“With shock, disbelief and a heart full of sadness, I received the sad news of the death of our brother Barkindo, the honorable secretary general. As I said in the gratitude ceremony for his many services to OPEC members and the international community in the last meeting of the Board of Directors (BoG), he was a ‘nobleman and a scientist’. His absence as a friend and as an international leader will be keenly felt. May his soul rest in eternal peace,” he wrote in his message.
“My deepest condolences go out to his family, his friends, the people of Nigeria, as well as to all the representatives of the countries in the OPEC Executive Committee,” Zamaninia added in his message published by Shana news outlet.