Nigeria's Minister of Petroleum Resources Diezani Alison-Madueke on Thursday emerged as the first female president of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a statement issued in the Nigerian capital Abuja said.
The Nigerian official was elected president of the 12-nation oil organization at the ongoing 166th General Meeting of OPEC in Vienna, Austria, the local petroleum ministry's statement said.
Alison-Madueke, who will serve a 12-month term at the helm of affairs in OPEC, will immediately take over from Libyan Deputy Prime Minister for Corporations Abdourhman Atahar Al-Ahirish, who was occupying the position.
Apart from the presidential election held at the meeting, OPEC would make key decisions that could halt the dwindling price of crude oil, as part of its mission to coordinate and unify the petroleum policies of its member countries and ensure the stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum to consumers, a steady income to producers and a fair return on capital for those investing in the petroleum industry.