Chakib Khelil is the minister of Energy and Mines in Algeria, and the president of Sonatrach, the Algerian oil and gas company. He is the former president of Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Khelil graduated from Texas A & M University in 1968 with a Ph. D. in petroleum engineering. He worked for both Shell and Phillips Petroleum until 1971 when he returned to Algeria to head the petroleum engineering department at Sonatrach.
From 1973 to 1976 Khelil served as technical adviser to the president of Algeria. He joined the World Bank in 1980, where he carried petroleum projects in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and served as head of energy for Latin America and then as petroleum adviser.
In 1999, Khelil left the World Bank to become an adviser to the president of Algeria. He was named minister of Energy and Mines in 1999. In 2001, he was named president of OPEC, president of the African Energy Commision (AFREC), and president of Sonatrach--a post he still maintains.