OPEC Said to Name Nigeria’s Alison-Madueke as President for 2015

Diezani Alison-Madueke will succeed Libya’s Abdourhman Ataher Al-Ahirish as OPEC’s President next year, according to a delegate at the group, who asked not to be identified in line with policy. Alison-Madueke is Petroleum Minister for Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer. She was proposed in June as a candidate for Secretary-General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. That role is currently held by Libya’s Abdalla El-Badri. The position of president is normally held for one year at a time. The 12-member group, which pumps about 40 percent of the world’s oil, is meeting today in Vienna to decide whether to change its official output target from the current level of 30 million barrels a day. Oil fell into a bear market last month as global demand growth slowed and production in the U.S., the world’s largest consumer, rose to the highest in three decades. OPEC faces the challenge of how to preserve its share of the global oil market while maintaining a price that suits its members.