Nick Moore, strongman of mineral-rich Ruritania

Nick was truly a talented writer with an ability to make a daily dollar report as interesting as his copy about the twists and turns at OPEC secret haggling sessions.

His training of so many Reuters journalists over the years and setting the standard on how to cover the oil market remains one of the main reasons that Reuters continues to enjoy a deep institutional knowledge of OPEC and is able to move markets.

Nick was a true journalist with an incredible sense of humour, never panicked even if the first break was missed and took a real interest in his team. He always worked generously hard on training anyone willing to learn.

With a straight face he would suddenly call you into his office and grant Reuters an exclusive interview with him as he impersonated the ultimate dictator with amazing accuracy. He would then let slip a few market-moving news and major political changes in his beloved State of Ruritania.

Within minutes one had to produce the snaps and urgents on a broken down, oily typewriter in the old “Reuter” office in Cairo as he waited to correct the copy.

Then he would buy you lunch after the brutal exercise!!

His imitations of Idi Amin and Saddam Hussein were so accurate that he once even predicted that Iraq would threaten its Gulf Arab neighbours once the war with Iran ended. That was three or four years prior to the actual invasion of Kuwait.

A great mentor who loved Reuters and its people. A professional, sharp political analyst, accurate and knew what he was writing about. ■