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GECF members most worried by low prices

Business Materials 25 November 2015 20:27 (UTC +04:00)

Tehran, Iran, Nov. 25

By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:

Former Iranian representative at the OPEC Mohammad Ali Khatibi has said that members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) are most of all worried about low prices of gas.

Pointing to the recent GECF summit held in Iran, Khatibi said the secretariat of the forum has to find ways to materialize the proposals made during the summit, ISNA news agency reported November 25.

Qatari Minister of Energy and Industry Mohammad bin Saleh al-Sada said in the ministerial meeting of the GECF on November 21 that LNG export lacks economic justification for his country as prices are too low.

"One of the main things about which all the members were unanimous was to have a stable market," Khatibi noted, calling on the GECF secretariat to hold export sessions to discuss the ways of meeting the requirement.

"They should prepare applicable policies for future meetings because they can make a difference in the global market as they own 70 percent of the world's gas reserves," he noted.

Following the conclusion of the GECF summit, member states issued a declaration that underscored the need to facilitate stronger cooperation in a series of fields, including pricing mechanisms and the transfer of expertise.

GECF members account for 42 percent of global gas output, 40 percent of piped gas transfer, and 65 percent of global trade of liquefied natural gas.

Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are main members of the gas exporting body.

Observer countries are the Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru, Azerbaijan and Norway.

GECF is similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It is often called "gas OPEC". It brings together the world leading countries in the export of natural gas. Unlike the OPEC, the GECF members have repeatedly said their meetings are not meant to make policies, but only to exchange information.

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