OPEC bans Reuters, WSJ, Bloomberg from meeting

OPEC has banned Reuters, Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal from its production meeting in Vienna, reports David Sheppard and Samer Al-Altrush of The Financial Times.

Sheppard and Al-Altrush report, “The media ban is unusual for Opec, with headlines from its meetings having the potential to move oil prices and financial markets around the world, particularly at a time when the global economy is wrestling with inflation.

“No reason has been given for excluding the media groups. Opec, the Saudi Arabia energy ministry and the affected news groups either declined to comment or did not respond to requests for comment.

“But people familiar with the decision said it had been instigated by Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman — the half brother of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — who has come under growing pressure to raise the price of crude, the kingdom’s economic lifeblood.”

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Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.