His Excellency Eng. Mohamed Hamel from the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria has assumed office as the fourth Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) – the global platform of leading gas exporting countries. 

He was appointed to the helm of the 18-country energy organisation at the 23rd GECF Ministerial Meeting, presided by the Plurinational State of Bolivia on 16 November 2021 for a period of two years commencing 1 January 2022, in accordance with the GECF Statute.  

An engineer by profession, HE Eng. Hamel is a familiar face in the energy sphere, and brings a long and distinguished career to advance the GECF at a time when natural gas is emerging as a frontrunner to shape a stable, secure, and clean global energy landscape for the future.

“Crucial role” of natural gas in “alleviating energy poverty”

“Natural gas will continue to play a crucial role in the future in alleviating energy poverty, fuelling economic growth, and expanding prosperity,” noted HE Eng. Hamel, “whilst at the same time contributing to the protection of the environment, both at the local level in terms of air quality improvement and at the global level in terms of climate change mitigation.”

Some of HE Hamel’s prominent previous roles include serving as a Member to the Board of Governors of OPEC, a Member of the Executive Committee of IEF, and a Member of the Executive Board of the GECF. He has played an advisory role to OPEC Secretary General as well as the Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria. 

HE Eng. Hamel began his career at Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach, where he rose through the ranks to eventually become Vice President of Strategy and Planning – a role he reprised at the GECF in shaping the organisation’s Long-Term Strategy (2017-2022).  

HE Eng. Hamel graduated from two prestigious engineering schools in France: the ‘Ecole Polytechnique de Paris’ and the ‘Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris’.

Qatar-headquartered Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an international governmental organisation currently comprising of 18 Member Countries – Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway, Peru, and the UAE, which together represent 70 per cent of the proven gas reserves, 44 per cent of its marketed production, 52 per cent of pipeline, and 51 per cent of LNG exports across the globe.