The oil diplomat supposed to appease the United States

Zurich Haitham al-Ghais is expected to take on a delicate job in August: Al-Ghais, currently top manager at Kuwait’s state-owned oil company Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), will become Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). As such, he is always in the shadow of the two powerful oil ministers, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman from Saudi Arabia and Alexander Nowak from Russia. At the same time, al-Ghais must – behind closed doors – balance the interests of the 23 member states of the Opec-plus alliance.

And he has to endure accusations from the major oil consumers, such as the USA, China or India. When prices are high, they like to renew the charge that the “oil cartel” wants to enrich itself to the detriment of the global economy.