Journalists and informed sources confirmed on Wednesday that the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has refrained from inviting journalists from Reuters, Bloomberg, and The Wall Street Journal to cover a meeting of oil industry CEOs with OPEC and allied energy ministers.
These three media outlets are among the prominent global providers of financial news and information. They compete to provide timely coverage of events such as OPEC+ meetings, which can have a significant impact on oil prices and the global cost of energy.
OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, include major oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia, and OPEC+ supplies over 40 percent of global oil.
OPEC has declined to comment on the reasons for not inviting correspondents from the three media organizations to the meeting scheduled for July 5 and 6 in Vienna.
On Tuesday, reporters from these outlets received an email stating that media participation is by invitation only, and prior accreditation, referred to as "self-accreditation" by OPEC, does not grant access to the meeting.
This is the second consecutive event where OPEC has restricted media coverage, having denied the same media organizations access to its headquarters in Vienna during a policy meeting on June 4. No reason was disclosed for the exclusion of the three organizations from the previous policy meeting.
Earlier this month, OPEC sent emails to all members of the Reuters team who applied for accreditation, stating that their registration was complete and that OPEC looked forward to welcoming them to the meeting.
Sources told Reuters that OPEC sent an email on Tuesday inviting journalists from other media organizations to attend. These include the Financial Times, Argus Media, and S&P Global Commodity Insights, also known as Platts.
