GECF Qatar meeting positive: minister
Wrapping up his trip to Qatar where he attend the sixth ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Vaziri-Hamaneh called the meeting positive and said the major step was taken toward the establishment of a gas organization.
“The meeting was the best of its kind,” he told reporters on his arrival at Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport on Tuesday.
“Given the strong presence of Russia and welcome from other gas exporting states, there is a ground for optimism,” said the minister.
According to Vaziri-Hamaneh, 14 countries attended the meet, out of which 12 were the members of Gas Exporting Countries Forum and were represented by their ministers.
The forum brought together countries controlling more than 70 percent of world gas reserves, including Algeria, Brunei, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Norway, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, and Turkmenistan, PIN reported. The 7th GECF would be hosted by Moscow, said the minister, adding, “Receiving the ideas of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei through Security Council chief Igor Ivanov, Russia is now serious about the formation of a gas exporting states body as it dispatched its energy minister to Qatar and proposed to host the next forum and the proposal was approved by the member states.”
Vaziri-Hamaneh added the participating countries also agreed to activate the forum and outline its articles of association and rules and regulations.
A high council headed by Russia was authorized to do the job, said the minister, expressing hope the initiative would help the forum move toward the setup of a powerful organization of gas exporting countries.
Ministers from Iran and Qatar denied that the world’s largest natural gas exporting countries intend to band together as a cartel.
Discussions at the 16-member GECF focused on deepening cooperation among gas producing countries with an aim to create a stable world market for the fuel, Vaziri-Hamaneh and his Qatari counterpart Abdullah al-Attiyah said. “I hate the name cartel. We are not a cartel," Al-Attiyah told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting’s Monday opening ceremony. "We’re just here to consider our interests.”
Vaziri-Hamaneh added, “There is no discussion in this meeting about a cartel. The idea of a cartel is not an issue. We’re here to exchange views on technical issues and on the markets.”
The Doha meeting and speculation that leaders would create a gas body, has alarmed leaders in Europe and America. European Union leaders have already discussed potential responses aimed at opposing the emergence of a producers’ group that would coordinate output and control prices.
Al-Attiyah said this was unfortunate. Gas importing countries should discuss these issues with the exporters’ group, rather than protesting the two-day meeting in Doha and talking about imposing new taxes and regulations. “The West is reacting negatively,” Al-Attiyah said.
“They should sit with us and discuss this with us before imposing any regulations on us or any new taxes. We should create confidence between producers and consumers and send a positive message and not blame each other.”
Many experts say a gas body that resembles the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) group would be tough to achieve, since most gas is sold under tight contracts that allow buyers to lock in prices for up to 25 years.
The ministerial meeting of the 6th GECF concluded its activities on April 9.