This Wednesday and Thursday, the eighth edition of the so-called “OPEC International Seminar” (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) will take place in Vienna under the motto “Towards a sustainable and inclusive energy transition”.

The president of the organization, the Equatoguinean Antonio Oburo Ondo, who affirmed that “the world cannot live without oil” and that he will not do so in the near future, participates in this event.

These words were reflected in the opening speech of the seminar.

According to Petroecuador, stopping crude oil exploitation in the Yasuní ITT would result in a loss of $16,470 million over 20 years.

OPEC Secretary General, Kuwaiti Haitham Al-Ghais, stressed the importance of crude oil and advocated promoting technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It is precisely expected that the challenges facing the industry in the fight against global warming will be the focus of the conference that will bring together industry executives and representatives from regional and international organizations.

Help is also expected from climate change experts.

For example, the announced participants include Simon Stiell, head of the UN Convention on Climate Change; Kadri Simon, European Commissioner for Energy; and Francesco La Camera, Chief Executive Officer of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), among others.

The meeting comes amid OPEC’s controversial decision not to invite journalists from certain international media outlets, such as financial news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg, as well as economics newspaper The Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

Several Austrian and international press associations protested last week against what they call an arbitrary decision against freedom of information.

OPEC itself, which has not explained the exclusions or the reasons why it does allow access to other media, including EFEensures that it is a new communication strategy, without revealing details about it.