It is with great sorrow that MEES informs its readers of the death of Ian Seymour, its first Editor-in-Chief, after a long illness. Ian was the world’s foremost oil journalist throughout the second-half of the 20th century, providing unparalleled coverage of Opec ministerial meetings with precise analysis and comprehensive interviews with key Opec players. A coverage that includes the period in the early seventies when Opec member states assumed control of their oil industries, a development that has had a profound impact on the world economy in subsequent decades.
Ian edited MEES for some four decades, and under his guidance and that of the publisher and founder, the late Fuad Itayim, the Survey evolved into the major reference for the emerging Middle East oil industry. Covering every single Opec ministerial meeting since the establishment of the Organization in Baghdad in September 1960, Ian’s unparalleled contacts with Opec ministers and senior executives of national and international oil companies ensured the accuracy and credibility of MEES under his editorship.
On the occasion of Opec’s 20th anniversary in 1980, Ian was chosen by the Opec council of ministers to write a history of the organization, Opec: Instrument of Change, published by Palgrave MacMillan of the UK. He was also honored in 1985 with the Award for Excellence in Written Journalism by the International Association for Energy Economics. And in 2002 he was among 11 journalists to receive Opec’s Long-Service Awards for Journalism.
He is survived by his three children Edward, Liza and Adam.
