The organization of petroleum exporting countries has postponed its 60th anniversary celebration which was slated for the 26th of February 2021 in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, to May 2021.
In a memo addressed to the entire oil producing delegations and signed by the Iraqi Minister of Oil, Ihsan Ismaael, said the postponement was done to respect the present stiff protocols being applied the world over to stem the tide of the second wave of coronavirus which he said is deadlier than the first which started last year.
To this end, Ismaeel noted that the celebration has been postponed to the second half of May 2021 to be on a safer side.
The minister, while announcing the postponement, said: “We were hoping to
hold this auspicious event on the 26th of February 2021. However after evaluation of the ongoing global uncertainty and challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and findings, we have had from the thorough discussion on the status of covid-19 during the aforementioned
meeting, this pandemic continues its rapid spread across the world resulting in implementing further measures in many parts of the globe to curb the spread of it including extending strict lockdowns, travel
restrictions, gathering limits, in addition to the fact that most vaccines are expected to get approvals between January and March.”
SOURCE: MetroWatch
