The Executive Board of the International Energy Forum (IEF) elected on Tuesday Jassim Alshirawi of Bahrain as the sixth IEF Secretary General at a meeting chaired by Mohamed Kurdi of Saudi Arabia in Rome.
Alshirawi will start his term as Secretary General on January 1, 2025 when the term of current Secretary General Joseph McMonigle ends.
“I am honored by the Executive Board's confidence in electing me as the organization’s next Secretary General,” Alshirawi said in a statement.
“I look forward to working with the board and Secretariat staff to facilitate and strengthen the dialogue of important energy issues and challenges facing our member countries,” he added.
Alshirawi had a distinguished career spanning more than 40 years in the energy industry, sustainability and energy efficiency, covering areas of engineering, management, and policy development and implementation.
Alshirawi was a member of the IEF's Executive Board from 2014 until 2021 and has been a member of the IEF's International Support Group since 2008.
He will be the first IEF Secretary General from the Middle East and North Africa region.
The IEF is the world's largest gathering of energy ministers from both producing and consuming countries as well as transit states.
Its membership represents 90% of global supply and demand for oil and gas.
The Secretary General serves as Chief Executive and Head of Mission of the IEF, which is headquartered in the Diplomatic Quarter of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Energy congratulated Alshirawi on his election as the sixth Secretary General of the IEF.
“We look forward to working with him to advance a robust energy consumer-producer dialogue and help meet our collective energy security, access, and transition goals,” it wrote on X.
