OPEC bans Bloomberg, Reuters and WSJ from Vienna conference

OPEC has once again denied media accreditation to reporters from three major financial news outlets - Bloomberg, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal - to cover next week's conference in Vienna, according to Bloomberg.

The media ban follows a similar move by the Vienna-based Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which saw accreditations withdrawn for a June meeting of the 13 OPEC members led by Riyadh and their 10 allies headed by Moscow.

"We are very concerned by the prospect of OPEC excluding certain journalists, including from Bloomberg, from next week's seminar," said a statement by the US news agency consulted by AFP on Thursday.

"For the sake of market transparency, we strongly advocate for OPEC to allow journalists from relevant global news outlets to attend," it added.

Reuters said it had also been targeted by the ban.

The Wall Street Journal did not receive an invitation either, according to a source close to the matter contacted by AFP.

The July 5-6 conference slated to convene at Vienna's Hofburg Palace will feature prominent speakers, including Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, the head of British oil giant BP Bernard Looney and the European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.

Austria's Foreign Ministry, which plans to attend next week's event, declined to comment on the ban.

But it took the "opportunity to highlight that media freedom, including enabling media coverage of political developments, is a cornerstone of any democratic society."

There was no immediate reaction from the OPEC press office.

In June, OPEC Secretary General Haitham Al-Ghais defended the organisation's "policy" to invite media on a case-by-case basis, arguing that "this is our house and this is the way we decide to conduct our media strategy".

Founded in 1960, OPEC was set up to "coordinate and unify petroleum policies" among members to "secure fair and stable prices for producers".

In 2016, the cartel partnered up with 10 countries to form the OPEC+ group, which accounts for 60 percent of the world's oil production.