OPEC's 60th anniversary to be marked in Iraq: media report

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) will hold a meeting in Baghdad in September to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the organization's foundation, authorities said Thursday.

The Iraqi Oil Ministry has formed committees to prepare for the occasion, as the OPEC will hold a celebration with the participation of the organizations' oil ministers, state-run al-Sabah newspaper quoted Asim Jihad, spokesman of the ministry, as saying.

Part of the event will be devoted to recall Iraq's role in establishing the organization in 1960 and the holding of its first meeting in Baghdad, Jihad said.

Minister of Culture Abdul Amir al-Hamdani said in an interview with al-Sabah that the Culture Ministry has agreed with the Oil Ministry's State Organization for Marketing of Oil to renovate al-Shaab Hall, or People's Hall, in Maidan neighborhood, downtown Baghdad, where OPEC's first meeting was held in 1960.

OPEC is an intergovernmental organization of 14 nations. Over the past decades, the organization has been seeking stability in the market, and enhancing its dialogue and cooperation with consumers and non-OPEC producers.