OPEC countries can hold a face-to-face meeting in honor of the 60th anniversary of the organization in Baghdad in early December 2020, if the epidemiological situation in the world improves and restrictions on border crossings are lifted, an OPEC source told TASS.
The proposal to hold a meeting on December 4 in the capital of Iraq, where OPEC was founded 60 years ago, was voiced by the country's Oil Minister Ihsan Abdel Jaber in his letter to OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo, a copy of which was read by TASS. In his address, the Iraqi Minister says that "it took several months to prepare for this meeting", but due to the pandemic and current restrictions, the meeting scheduled for September had to be postponed. "We propose to organize it on December 4 in Baghdad," he writes.
At the same time, regular Ministerial talks between OPEC and non-OPEC countries participating in the agreement on reducing oil production are scheduled for November 30 - December 1 this year, prelimenary online.
The decision on the date of the meeting will be made after the epidemiological situation is improved, the TASS source explained.
OPEC was founded in September 1960 at an oil conference in Baghdad by five states-Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Later, other countries joined them. As of March 2020, OPEC consists of 13 countries: Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Its headquarters are located in Vienna. OPEC owns a third of the world's oil production.
Since 2017, OPEC, together with Russia and a number of other countries, have regulated oil production under an agreement known as OPEC+. The agreement allows to avoid oversupply and volatility in oil prices.
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