During his official 3-day visit to the Republic of Congo, the Secretary-General of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), alongside the Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo, Jean-Richard Itoua, visited the headquarters of the African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (APPO) in Brazzaville, Congo, and met with the Secretary-General of the Organisation, Dr Omar Farouk Ibrahim.

The SG was accompanied by an OPEC delegation, as he had done on all of his official visits in Congo. The APPO SG complimented the OPEC SG’s contribution in establishing the ‘Declaration of Cooperation (DoC)’ in 2016 and his continued support for the organisation.

Commenting, OPEC SG highlighted that every African member of OPEC is also a member of APPO, which shows that both Organisations share a common interest in the areas of knowledge enhancement, data and expertise to support their Member Countries and ultimately the energy market. He briefed Dr Ibrahim on the ongoing market rebalancing efforts by OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries.

He also thanked APPO for their support for the DoC since its inception in December 2016. He said: “Importantly, in April 2020 when we were putting together the response to the widening market crisis related to the pandemic, APPO threw its full weight behind these efforts.”

He noted that OPEC and APPO cooperation will become even more crucial in the future, as cooperation has proven invaluable in addressing recent market issues.

Algeria, Angola, which holds the Presidency of the OPEC Conference in 2021, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya, and Nigeria are the seven countries that are members of OPEC and APPO.

The SG of OPEC also paid a special tribute to Dr Rilwanu Lukman by visiting APPO’s ‘Rilwanu Lukman Research and Development Centre.’

During the visit, he said: “The Rilwanu Lukman Research and Development Centre bears the name of one of the oil industry’s most influential and respected ambassadors.”

“Dr Lukman’s passing in 2014 was a heavy loss for Africa, for OPEC and for the entire oil sector. He played a major role in the history of our Organisation”, he added.

Dr Lukman served as Nigeria’s Petroleum Resources Minister and Presidential Adviser on Petroleum and Energy, as well as President of the OPEC Conference and Secretary-General of OPEC. He also played a key part in the Nigerian Petroleum Industry Bill, which was recently signed.