Mr. MS Barkindo was founder delegate to the formation of the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) in Algiers, Algeria, in 1986; delegate to APPA Ministerial Conferences from 1987 to 2010; and pioneer member of the International Energy Forum (IEF), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has greatly helped to strengthen and consolidate OPEC/non-OPEC cooperation and dialogue.
Dr. Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo was born on April 20, 1959 in Yola, the present day capital of Adamawa State in northeastern Nigeria. An accomplished oil technocrat, he possesses a wealth of experience in the oil and gas industry, both in his home country, Nigeria, and internationally. He is currently serving his second term as Secretary General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a tenure that will finish by August 2nd this year. His first tenure started in August 1, 2016 and ended in August 2019. Barkindo previously served as Acting Secretary General of OPEC in 2006, after representing Nigeria on OPEC’s Economic Commission Board from 1993 to 2008. He served as Nigeria’s OPEC National Representative for 15 years, from 1986 to 2010, as Nigerian Delegate to OPEC Ministerial Conferences and was also OPEC Governor.
His other activities at OPEC include Chairman of OPEC Task Force of the 15th Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD); led OPEC/European Union dialogue on Energy Markets, Taxation and Environment; as well as architect of the first Long Term Strategy (LTS) at OPEC. Dr. M S Barkindo was founder delegate to the formation of the African Petroleum Producers’ Association (APPA) in Algiers, Algeria, in 1986; delegate to APPA Ministerial Conferences from 1987 to 2010; and pioneer member of the International Energy Forum (IEF), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has greatly helped strengthen and consolidate OPEC/non-OPEC cooperation and dialogue.
For more than 23 years he worked at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, culminating in his appointment as Group Managing Director in January 2009 until 2010. Barkindo was the only Nigerian delegate that attended all 26 Conferences of the Parties to the UNFCCC from COP1 in Berlin 1995 to COP26 in Glasgow 2021. In 2002, he served as Coordinator, Group of 77 and China at UNFCCC; and was elected.
Vice-President of the Conference of Parties at COP13 of the UNFCCC in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2007. He was re-elected Vice President at COP14 in Poznan, Poland, in December 2008; and again re-elected Vice President at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009. He was also Deputy Managing Director of Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), as well as Special Advisor to the former Minister of Petroleum Resources and also OPEC Secretary General, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman.
Apart from this, the OPEC helmsman has headed Nigeria’s technical delegation to the United Nations climate negotiations since 1991, and was in charge of the team at the negotiations that produced the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. From 1982 to 1985, he worked with Nigerian Mining Corporation, Jos, up to the level of Principal Administrative Officer. Barkindo completed academic degrees at various higher institutions of learning, both home and abroad.
Described as the last man standing among the brightest minds that worked and superintendent activities of the global oil cartel, Barkindo has bequeathed a great legacy in OPEC through his magical instrument of oil diplomacy called
Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) that continue to unite members of the cartel in an alliance that brought together once rivals that hardly see eye-to-eye to a table to serve the global oil industry from two major oil circle of 2016 and the recent one triggered by Corona virus.
Dr. MS Barkindo is a recipient of numerous international awards, including the ‘Global Citizen Award’ bestowed on him by Valuechain in 2021.
Furthermore, in recognition of his achievements and service to his people, Dr. Barkindo was turbaned by the Lamido of Adamawa, in 2011, as the Walin Adamawa.
