Gas Exporting Countries Forum Starts Tomorrow in Doha, Qatar

Energy ministers of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum met on Sunday to prepare for the first ever summit of the 11-member group which will discuss fair prices and stronger coordination.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Algerian leader Abdelaziz Bouteflika are among the heads of state who will attend the one-day summit on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha, organisers said.

According to the GECF, the summit will discuss the priority of long-term contracts as the basis of security for exporters and consumers of natural gas, Iran’s SHANA news agency reported.

It will also seek ways to establish a fair price for gas under a gas-to-oil indexation with the objective to overcome the disparity between crude oil and gas prices, the organisers said.

World gas demand dropped by 2.1 percent in 2009 due to the global economic recession, but the GECF says it rebounded last year, rising by 7.3 percent, mainly due to Japan boosting its LNG imports in the wake of the March tsunami and nuclear crisis.

The GECF group includes Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

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Source: NIGC, November 14, 2011