RI to support Kuwait's candidate for OPEC secretary general

Indonesia will support Kuwait's candidate for secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries at the group's Dec. 4 meeting, a senior official said Friday.

Iin Arifin Takhyan, director general of oil and gas at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, endorsed the Kuwaiti nominee, Adnan Shahib-Eldin, over two other candidates from Venezuela and Iran.

He said Eldin, the current director of OPEC's researchdepartment, would be the first Kuwaiti to serve as OPEC's secretary-general.

"Mr. Eldin has been working with OPEC for quite a long time, so he is very experienced," Iin said.

The current secretary general is Venezuela's Alvaro Calderon Silva, whose term expires in December.

OPEC ministers agreed in September that the organization's president would temporarily take over the secretary general's post if they are unable to reach a consensus on a replacement for Silva by the end of December.

The 11 OPEC members are Algeria, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.(*)