OPEC Secretary General, Barkindo, is dead

Sopuruchi Onwuka

Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), His Excellency, Dr Mohammed Barkindo is dead!

Dr Barkindo who delivered a keynote address at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Oil and Gas (NOG) conference and exhibition yesterday at the International Conference Center, Abuja, died hour after departing the venue in the company of Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, and the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, Mallam Mele Kyari.

Mallam Kyari was to declare in his Twitter handle that Dr Barkindo died later at about 11 pm in the night. He did not state cause of his death, but added that burial arrangement would be announced shortly.

Dr Barkindo was a devout Muslim with broad mind and acceptance to all people of different faiths. He was humble, humorous and full of knowledge.

Mallam Kyari stated in his tweet that Dr Barkindo’s death is “certainly a great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC, and the global energy community.”

The Oracle Today reports that Dr Barkindo who had delivered an elaborate presentation on the state of the global oil markets, energy transition and Africa’s economic outlook looked healthy and strong with sign of distress.

He had announced his retirement at OPEC which comes due at the end of the month.

He told the industry players at the conference that the petroleum industry is under siege.

The Tweet announcing Dr Barkindo’s death has shaken the internet with retweets, emojis, comments and sundry reactions.

Details on this development will follow shortly.