Saudi official named new head of research at OPEC

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) confirmed the appointment of a new director for its research division on Tuesday.

The group’s board of governors chose Saudi Arabia’s Ayed Al Qahtani over candidates from Qatar, Iraq and Libya.

The announcement was made following OPEC’s 149th Extraordinary Meeting, where new heads for the Energy Studies and Petroleum Departments were also appointed.

Al Qahtani is the advisor to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources, and previously led Saudi Aramco’s Global Economic & Energy Outlook.

Abderrezak Benyoucef, previously acting director of Studies and Knowledge Management at the Sonatrach/Algerian Petroleum Institute, was appointed as the new head of the energy studies department. Behrooz Baikalizadeh, General Manager of OPEC & International Energy Flora, was appointed as head of the Petroleum Studies Department.