The world's biggest gas exporters have officially agreed to create a new organization with headquarters in the Qatari capital of Doha.

The new charter will transfer the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) from a loose, consultative body into a formal organization with a permanent secretariat.

"A new organization has been born today ... The charter has been agreed. The headquarters will be in Qatar," Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko said on Tuesday after a meeting of the forum's ministers in Moscow.

Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the UAE and Venezuela have regularly attended the forum's meetings while Norway and Kazakhstan have observer status.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said the group would 'prevent unnecessary harmful competition in the market, which could damage exports'.

GECF energy ministers dismissed on Tuesday the Western concerns that they aim to create a gas-OPEC.

"The goal of the meeting is to transform it into a more organized format. We expect such a decision to be taken. This is a gas 'Non-OPEC'," said the deputy chairman of Russian energy giant Gazprom, Alexander Medvedev.

Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said, "It's not a cartel. We are defending the interests of our countries. That's all."

He added, "We see in this forum an opportunity to build a solid organization, which has in its foundation the same principles that gave birth to OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries)."

Iran, Qatar and Russia -- the three countries with the world's largest gas reserves - have already held separate talks in Tehran to create a 'gas troika' to expand trilateral gas cooperation and implement joint projects.

In a keynote speech to the meeting, Russian President Vladimir Putin said higher costs of gas exploration, production and transport meant that 'the era of cheap energy resources, of cheap gas, is of course coming to an end'.

AKM/HGH