Chakib Khelil ( ar, شكيب خليل; born 8 August 1939) is an Algerian political figure who served in the government of Algeria as Minister of Energy and Mines from 1999 to 2010.

Early life and education

Khelil was born on 8 August 1939 in Oujda, Morocco. He received a bachelor and

master degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s in

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...

and petroleum engineering from

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

in 1964 and 1965, respectively. He also obtained a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in petroleum engineering from

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

in 1968.

Career

After working in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for a few years with Shell, Phillips Petroleum and D.R. McCord & Associates, Khelil joined

Sonatrach Sonatrach ( ar, سوناطراك; french: Société Nationale pour la Recherche, la Production, le Transport, la Transformation, et la Commercialisation des Hydrocarbures) is the national state-owned oil company of Algeria. Founded in 1963, it is ...

in 1971 as head of its reservoir engineering department while being president of Alcore, a joint venture between Corelaboratories and Sonatrach. Then he became technical adviser in the presidency of Algeria from 1973 to 1975. He was appointed president of the Valhyd Group (with Valhyd standing for valorisation hydrocarbures in

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) in 1975–1978. Next he served as coordinator in the hydrocarbon vice presidency of Sonatrach. In 1980 he joined the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

, working on petroleum-related projects in Africa, Latin America and Asia; he retired from it as its petroleum adviser in 1999, only to join President Abdelaziz Bouteflika's cabinet on 1 November 1999, becoming Minister for Energy and Mines on 26 December 1999. In 2001, while a minister, he was also named president of Sonatrach, and he nominated and was succeeded by Mohamed Meziane in 2003. He was also president of

OPEC The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC, ) is a cartel of countries. Founded on 14 September 1960 in Baghdad by the first five members (Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela), it has, since 1965, been headquart ...

for the years 2001 and 2008, president of the African Energy Commission (AFREC) in 2001, president of the Association of African Oil Producing Countries (APPA) in 2004 and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in 2010. On February 1, 2022, the prosecution requested 20 years in prison for corruption against the former Algerian Minister of Energy Chakib Khelil, in office from 1999 to 2010 under the presidency of Abdelaziz Bouteflika and who is located in the United States. On February 14, 2022, the Sidi M'Hamed court sentenced Chakib Khelil in absentia to 20 years in prison and a fine of 2 million Algerian dinars. The court also confirmed the request for an international arrest warrant for Chakib Khelil.

References

External links

NYT Interview

ALGERIA - Profile - Chakib Khelil

Hydrocarbons Legislation In Algeria Back to Square One?
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khelil, Chakib 1939 births Living people Texas A&M University alumni Ohio State University College of Engineering alumni People in the petroleum industry People from Oujda Algerian Ministers of Energy and Mines 20th-century Algerian politicians 21st-century Algerian politicians