Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 21
By Fatih Karimov- Trend:
The extraordinary ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) started on Nov. 21 in Tehran.
The meeting, headed by Iran's oil minister, is aimed at setting the agenda of the GECF heads' meeting, the Iranian oil ministry's Shana news agency reported.
The 17th ordinary meeting of the forum will also be held Nov. 21.
Nigeria's newly appointed Petroleum Minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu will head the meeting.
The third summit of the GECF is scheduled to be held Nov. 23 in presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and eight foreign presidents.
This year, the GECF meetings, which comprise an ordinary ministerial meeting, an extraordinary ministers' meeting, a high-ranking group meeting, and the executive board meeting will be held in the course of four days.
The GECF counts for 42 percent of the world's gas production, owns 67 percent of the world's gas reserves, conducts 38 percent of global gas transfers, and 85 percent of the global LNG trade.
The forum is made up of 18 main and observer members. Iran, Russia, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Peru and the United Arab Emirates are the main members of the forum.
The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iraq, Norway and Oman will also take part in the forum's summit as observer members.
The topic for this year's GECF summit is "Promoting Technologies for Sustainable Environmental Management".
The GECF was established in 2001 in Tehran and is a venue for a number of world's gas exporting countries to exchange information about concerned topics.