GECF ministers draft summit declaration

The Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) concluded in Tehran on Saturday with the participants anticipating brighter future for the forum and expressing support to further cooperation among the member states.

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh presided the meeting that was held prior to the GECF summit which will open on Monday.  Zangeneh said the Saturday meeting was meant to draft the agenda and the Final Declaration of the Monday gas summit which he said will focus on stronger further coordination between the members over market and industry issues, IRNA reported.

Following the meeting, he told reporters that the declaration was approved by the ministerial meeting and will be announced at the Monday summit of the GECF. 

GECF Secretary General Mohammad-Hossein Adeli appreciated members’ activities and said the Tehran Gas Summit is being held at a crucial time for energy markets.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak was also upbeat about the level of cooperation in the GECF, saying the global crude oil market is affecting gas markets.

Later in the day, the 17th Ordinary Ministerial Meeting convened with the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the chairman to discuss the internal issues on the agenda such as the budget and the election of the secretary general.

On Monday, the third GECF gas summit will be held to discuss the market outlooks and the market strategies.

Presidents of Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Nigeria, Russia, and Venezuela and the Algerian premier are going to participate in the event.

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, whose country is one of the world’s largest holders of gas resources but not a GECF member, will take part in the summit with the guest status.

In addition to the heads of states and governments from 17 permanent and observer countries and guests, the general secretaries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and International Energy Forum (IEF) have confirmed their participation in the third summit meeting.

Previous GECF gas summits were held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013.

The GECF is the gathering of the world’s leading gas producers that provides a framework for the exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.

It consists of 17 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat positioned in Doha, Qatar.

Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are the main members of the gas exporting body. Observer countries are the Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru and Norway.

GECF members account for 42 percent of global gas output, 70 percent of the global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipe gas transmissions, and 65 percent of global trade of the liquefied natural gas (LNG).

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