Kuwait has appointed Mohammad Al Shatti as its new governor of Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), replacing Haitham Al Ghais, who is now the Vice President of International Marketing for state-owned Kuwait Petroleum Corp.
Al Ghais was previously the delegation's No. 3 official as Opec national representative, said a statement from Opec.
In its biggest shuffle in the Opec delegation, Kuwait has promoted Al Shatti to its second-ranking envoy to the organization, behind oil minister Mohammed Al Fares, while the Opec national representative role will be filled by Sheikh Abdullah Al Sabah.
Currently the organization's fifth largest member by crude output, Kuwait is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, Opec's biggest producer. It had pumped 2.36 million barrels per day (mbpd) of crude oil in May, in line with its quota, according to the latest S&P Global Platts survey of Opec production.
It serves on the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee that oversees a production cut accord between Opec, Russia and several other allies that has been in place since 2017.
As Kuwait's Opec governor, Shatti will serve on a Joint Technical Committee that advises the JMMC, supported by Sheikh Abdullah.
Opec plans to meet today (June 24), followed by a full Opec+ meeting with Russia and the other allies on July 1, to decide on production quotas for August and possibly beyond.
Outside of the JTC, Opec governors serve on the organistion's board of Governors, which is tasked with managing the affairs of the organization, formulating its budget and making operational recommendations to the conference of oil ministers, among other duties.
