OPEC Secretary General's Acceptance Remarks for the Euroknowledge Oil and Gas African Icon Award

Delivered on behalf of HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General, by James Griffin, OPEC's Editor/Speechwriter, at the House of Lords, 29 April 2019, London, UK.

Ladies and gentlemen,

On behalf of Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo, OPEC Secretary General, I would like to pass on his sincere apologies for not being able to attend this event in person.

He is deeply honoured and humbled to receive this prestigious Award and would like to thank Euroknowledge and everyone involved for bestowing such a respected accolade.

In his role as OPEC Secretary General he also interprets this Award as recognition of a number of factors, all focused on the key words: ‘cooperation, cooperation, cooperation’.

Firstly, the teamwork, dedication and selflessness of a remarkable group of countries: namely, the strategic partners in the historic ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ that are focused on balancing the market and helping achieve a sustainable oil market stability.

He believes that working with statesmen, leaders and representatives of OPEC Member Countries and non-OPEC producing countries has been the honour of a lifetime.  Moreover, the tireless work has borne fruit and the oil industry is in a much healthier place than it was when the ‘Declaration of Cooperation’ was initiated in January 2017.

Secondly, this development, as well as the rejuvenation of OPEC, has also occurred at the same time as the intensification of OPEC’s engagement with Africa.  Today, half of OPEC’s Membership comes from this great continent.

And thirdly, due to the unflagging efforts and the diligent and expert work of the team he leads at the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna.  They are the backbone of the Organization.

Looking to the future, OPEC will never cease to advocate for cooperation, collaboration and fraternity among nations as the best solutions to overcoming challenges, and with this in mind, I would like to leave you with one of Mr Barkindo’s favourite African proverbs:

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

Thank you and I wish everyone a successful event.