Ken Okeke
The Association of Energy Correspondents of Nigeria, NAEC mourns the death of the outgoing secretary-general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo.
In a statement from the Association, the Chairman of NAEC, Mr Olu Phillips said that the global energy industry will miss him. In his word ‘ the measures he brought to balancing geo-politics and energy security is quite remarkable .
The statement reads further , “I find it quite difficult to take this all in considering that he spoke to us at the ongoing Nigeria oil and gas conference just yesterday.
According to the NAEC chairman, Mr. Barkindo was a great man and one of the finest in the energy sector. He Left great legacies for the industry and we pray to God to console his family.
It would be recalled that Mele Kyari, group managing director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited, announced his demise in a tweet in the early hours of Wednesday.
Kyari said he died at about 11p.m on Tuesday few hours after delivering a speech to oil and gas stakeholders at the ongoing 2022 Nigerian oil and gas conference and exhibition in Abuja.
After the event, he met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the statehouse alongside a delegation from the OPEC secretariat.
He was aged 63.
He described his departure as a great loss to his immediate family, NNPC Nigeria, OPEC and the global energy community.
“We lost our esteemed Dr Muhammad Sanusi Barkindo. He died at about 11 pm yesterday 5th July 2022. Certainly a great loss to his immediate family, the NNPC, our country Nigeria, the OPEC and the global energy community,” Kyari tweeted.
Barkindo is the third ex-NNPC GMD to have passed on in two years — Maikanti Baru died in May 2020 and Joseph Dawha in August 2020.
His second term at OPEC ends on July 31, 2022.