Abdallah Salem el-Badri
Quick Facts
Biography
Abdalla Salem el-Badri (born 25 May 1940) is a former Libyan official who served as Chairman of the National Oil Corporation (NOC), Minister of Petroleum, Minister of Energy, Minister of Management, and Deputy Prime Minister. He was also the longest-serving Secretary General of OPEC, holding the position in 1994 and then 2007–2016. He is a citizen of Libya and resides in Austria. He is married with five children.
OPEC selected Nigeria's Mohammed Barkindo to succeed el-Badri as Secretary General, effective 1 August 2016. One of their predecessors was Omar el-Badri who held the position in 1970, although OPEC does not disclose any relation between its two Libyan Secretaries General with the same family name.
Abdalla El-Badri was born in Ghemines, Libya, and began his oil industry career in 1965 with Esso. He graduated cum laude from Florida Southern College in 1975 with a B.S. in accounting. He served as the Libyan Minister for Oil from 1990, the post being expanded to cover electricity in 1993. In 2000, he moved to become Under-Secretary for Services, then in 2002 he became Deputy Prime Minister. From 2002 to 2004, he served as Minister for Management.