Nigeria has chosen Mohammed Barkindo (photo), the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as the next secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to a government official.

Barkindo had worked at NNPC up until 2010 and had served as the acting secretary-general of OPEC in 2006.

“We are putting Barkindo forward for the job of OPEC secretary general because he has the required qualification and experience,” a government official told Reuters.

OPEC has for over three years made effort to find a successor for the existing Secretary-General Abdalla El-Badri, who was selected as the acting secretary general in December up until the end of July after serving full terms. The group’s effort has been in vain due to political conflicts between Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

The disparity over the selection of a replacement came up again at the December 4 meeting as the decline in oil prices increased tensions over the direction of the group’s policy.

“Barkindo would be well placed in the secretary-general role and could offer a smooth transition out of the current deadlock, enabling the OPEC secretariat to resume operations at full strength. He knows how OPEC operates and is known to many delegates” John Hall, the chairman of Alfa Energy said.

Anita Fatunji