Member Corner
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.
Prior to joining the GECF, Eng. Hamel was for seven years senior advisor to the Minister of Energy and Mines of Algeria. His long-standing relationship with the GECF dates back to 2016, during which time he served as a Member of the Executive Board of GECF. He also chaired the Ad-hoc Working Group on GECFs Long-Term Strategy.
Eng. Hamel has been a Member of the Board of Governors of OPEC since 2015 and Chairman of its Audit Committee. In 2016, he chaired the OPEC High-level Committee of the Algiers Accord and co-chaired the OPEC/Non-OPEC High-level meeting.
He has also been a Member of the Executive Committee of the International Energy Forum, which he chaired in 2016 in the run-up to the 15th IEF Ministerial Meeting.
In the preceding decade, Eng. Hamel joined the OPEC Secretariat in Vienna in 2002, where he stayed for 12 years as the Head of the Energy Studies Department and then as Senior Advisor to the Secretary General.
He spent most of his first 21-year professional career with Sonatrach, where he had the opportunity to evolve through all segments of the oil and gas value chain. He began as Reservoir Engineer in the Production Division. He was then promoted to Director of Studies and Synthesis in the Exploration Division, and finally to Vice President in charge of Strategy and Planning. In addition, he has served as a Member of the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of Sonatrach.
Eng. Hamel graduated from two engineering schools: the "École Polytechnique de Paris" and the "Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Mines de Paris", both in France.
He is married and a father to two children.