Haitham al-Ghais

Haitham al-Ghais (Arabic: هيثم الغيص; born October 1969) is a Kuwaiti oil executive and diplomat who has served as Secretary General of OPEC since 2022.

Haitham al-Ghais
هيثم الغيص
Al-Ghais in 2025
29th Secretary General of OPEC
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 July 2022
Preceded by	Mohammed Barkindo
Personal details
Born	October 1969 (age 55) Kuwait City, Kuwait
Alma mater	University of San Francisco

Early life and education

Al-Ghais was born in October 1969 in Kuwait City, Kuwait. His father served as Kuwait's governor at OPEC.^[1] In 1990, he graduated from the University of San Francisco with a degree in political science.^[2]

Career

From 1991 to 1993, Al-Ghais operated in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In 1993, he joined the International Marketing Sector of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC), later serving as its Crude Oil Marketing Representative and leading the company's regional offices in China and the United Kingdom. In 2021, Al-Ghais was appointed as KPC's Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing.^[3]

In 2017, Al-Ghais chaired OPEC's first Joint Technical Committee (JTC), continuing to participate in JTC and Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) meetings. In January 2022, he was unanimously appointed to a three-year term as OPEC Secretary-General.^[4][5] Following the 5 July 2022 death of his predecessor, Nigerian politician Mohammed Barkindo, Al-Ghais served as the organization's interim leader ahead of his planned August 2022 start date.^[6]

During his term, Al-Ghais has urged member nations to focus international climate negotiations on reducing carbon emissions, rather than prohibiting the extraction and sale of fossil fuels.^[7]

Personal life

Al-Ghais is fluent in Arabic, English, Spanish, French, German, and Portuguese, and also speaks Chinese.^[2]