Haitham al-Ghais will take the role of OPEC secretary general on August 1, 2022 (Photo: AFP/VNA)

OPEC on Monday agreed to appoint Haitham al-Ghais, a former Kuwaiti governor to OPEC, as its new secretary general, to succeed Nigeria’s Mohammad Barkindo. Al-Ghais will take over the role on August 1.

The OPEC+ alliance between OPEC and other oil producers, called the Declaration of Cooperation, has helped support the global oil market since 2017 when it was set up.

Mr. Al-Ghais said supporting the continuation of the Declaration of Cooperation is in the wider interest of the industry and of all 23 countries that have signed the agreement.

Al-Ghais previously worked for the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and served as Kuwait’s OPEC Governor from 2017 to June 2021. He currently works as deputy managing director for International Marketing at KPC.