The OPEC Secretariat decided to postpone the meeting of the organization's countries on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its foundation due to the restrictions associated with the pandemic. Iraq has made a corresponding offer to OPEC, the organization's statement reads.
The meeting was originally scheduled to take place in September in Baghdad, where the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded at an oil conference in 1960. "I am truly disappointed that I will not be able to host the 60th anniversary of OPEC after months of preparation for this historic event," Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar wrote to OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo. The Iraqi Minister also stressed that "health and safety are now more important than anything else."
Barkindo replied that he "looks forward to meeting with all OPEC countries in the near future."
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. OPEC accounts for a third of the world's oil production. Since 2017, OPEC, together with Russia and a number of other countries, has regulated oil production under an agreement known as OPEC+. The agreement avoids oversupply and volatility in oil prices.
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Based on materials from TASS