OPEC+ has blocked reporters from several western media outlets from attending ministerial meetings in Vienna this weekend, where the bloc responsible for more than 40 percent of the world’s oil supply will discuss future policy.
The outlets blocked from attending include Reuters, Bloomberg News, and the Wall Street Journal.
“The organization’s secretariat typically gives accreditation to any journalist who wants to cover the meeting at their headquarters. This time, that opportunity wasn’t offered, and invitations were sent directly to reporters,” Bloomberg journalist Will Kennedy wrote on 31 May.
“As of Wednesday evening, nobody from Bloomberg News had received an invitation. Journalists from the Reuters news agency and the Wall Street Journal were also denied invitations, according to people familiar with the matter,” Kennedy adds, highlighting that “no reason was given for the decision.”
The Financial Times (FT) — which initially reported on the ban — says the move was driven by Saudi Arabia. Citing people familiar with the decision, FT says the decision was “instigated” by Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman.
Last October, Bin Salman blasted a Reuters correspondent for “not doing a proper job” when reporting on a supposed Saudi-Russian scheme to increase the price of oil to $100 per barrel.
“You’ve got it wrong twice, and you’ll get it wrong the third time,” the Saudi official told the correspondent, adding that he was misquoted by Reuters’ reports twice, despite speaking to a Dubai correspondent from the agency about how Saudi Arabia does not believe in price targeting.
“I’m not talking to Reuters until you respect the source, which is the energy minister himself on behalf of the Saudi government,” he stressed.
Oil ministers from the OPEC+ group, including OPEC member states and other oil-producing giants like Russia, will meet in the Austrian capital on 3 and 4 June for a regular biannual meeting.
OPEC+ has been drawing the ire of the west for the past year, as the oil bloc has continued to implement significant production cuts while ignoring US demands to increase production.