Venezuela set to keep Opec top job
THE CONTEST to succeed Ali Rodriguez as secretary general of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday has turned into a two-horse race. After serving only 16 months of his three-year term at Opec, Venezuelan Rodriguez is returning to Caracas to preside over State oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, a decision he is believed to have made after heavy pressure from President Hugo Chavez. A strike at the company led to a brief coup against Chavez in April.
The front-runners to succeed Rodriguez are his fellow countryman Alvaro Silva Calderon, Venezuela's energy minister, and Suleiman Jasir al-Herbish, Saudi Arabia's Opec governor. Other names that have cropped up, but are regarded largely as being out of the frame, include Iran's Opec representative Hussein Kazempour Ardebili and Algerian energy minister Chakib Khelil. Iraq has also said it is considering putting forward a candidate.
Opec regulations say member states have to agree unanimously on a candidate, making the nomination process prone to political horse-trading. However, experts say the eventual choice should have little impact on the oil price, with the post described as largely organisational or, as one analyst put it, 'more secretary than general'.
Lawrence Eagles, head of commodity research at GNI, is backing Silva. He said: 'It's always very difficult for any of the Gulf countries to hold the post because they don't want each other to have it. Another point in Venezuela's favour is that it was prone to quota-busting in the past and giving it the role of secretary general has helped keep it in line.'
Long journey to key job
ALVARO Silva's nomination as Opec secretary general would be the crowning of a 50-year-long career involving energy and politics. The 73-year old was assistant to Juan Pablo Perez Alfonso, who helped found Opec in 1960. Silva co-wrote the 1975 law that kept Venezuela's oil industry in State hands and is said to be a firm believer in Opec's right to set prices.
Married with two children, he is also a leading member of the tiny People's Electoral Movement, a Leftist political party. If he wins, he will need a translator permanently by his side: he barely speaks English, Opec's official language.
Dominance is drawback
THE main drawback of the bid by Suleiman Jasir al-Herbish, 59, for the post is that he is a Saudi. Producing more than 7.5m barrels of crude oil a day, Saudi Arabia is the undisputed kingpin of Opec and giving it the role of secretary general would underline its dominance.
Appointed Saudi Arabia's Opec governor in 1990, Herbish would become only the second Saudi to hold the post, after Mohammad Saleh Jokhadar in 1967. He put himself forward for the job in 2000 but failed to secure the support of all 11 Opec member states. He joined Saudi Arabia's oil ministry in 1962 after taking a BA in Cairo and an MA in the US.
