His Excellency Haitham Al Ghais of Kuwait assumed office as Secretary General of OPEC on 1 August 2022. On 10 December 2024, he was reappointed for a further three-year period with effect from 1 August 2025. 

With more than 30 years of experience in global oil and gas markets, HE Haitham Al Ghais has held key senior management positions for Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) in his home country, as well as in Beijing and London. 

In the early 1990s, HE Al Ghais served in the military during Operation Desert Storm. Before joining KPC in 1993, HE Al Ghais was a diplomat in the Kuwait Ministry of Foreign Affairs for two years, working closely with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. 

For KPC, HE Al Ghais held multiple managerial functions, including for Crude Oil Marketing and Petroleum Products in the International Marketing Sector; Head of KPC’s Regional Office in Beijing; Manager of KPC’s European Regional Office in London; and Market Research Manager in Kuwait. 

In 2021, HE Al Ghais was appointed as KPC’s Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing, responsible for overseeing the development of the global market outlook for KPC’s international marketing plans and participating in the drawing up of KPC’s strategic long-term plans. 

HE Al Ghais has represented Kuwait in multiple governing bodies of renowned international institutions, including the Board of Governors of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (2008-2014). He was a Member of the OPEC Board of Governors from 2017 until 2021, and a Member of the Audit Committee (2019-2020) and its Chairman during 2020. 

HE Al Ghais played a leading role in the historic Declaration of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC oil-producing countries. In 2017, he was appointed as the first Chairman of the Joint Technical Committee that helped facilitate the development of the methodology for monitoring the conformity of production adjustments. He was also part of the Kuwait team that participated in meetings of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee. 

Between 2018 and 2019, HE Al Ghais was the leader of Kuwait’s team involved in finalizing and signing the Charter of Cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries.