The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) here on Wednesday unanimously elected the Russian candidate as its secretary general.
The 11-member group picked Leonid Bokhanovsky, vice president of Russian energy engineering and construction company Stroytransgaz, as its secretary general in the Forum's ninth ministerial meeting, Islamic Republic of Iran News Network reported.
The secretary-general will have a two-year term, renewable for another two years.
Iran, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago and Egypt had also named their candidates for the secretary general post. The Vice President of National Iranian Oil Company, Hojatollah Ghanimifard was the Iranian candidate.
Member countries hold nearly 70 percent of the world's 6,254 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves in 2009 but their exports of gas were less than 44 percent of the global total in 2008.
Russia, Iran, and Qatar are holders of the world's first, second and third largest gas reserves, respectively. They are the founding members of GECF.
During the eight ministerial meeting of GECF in June, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad AlAttiyah was elected chairman and Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil was elected vice chairman.
The GECF established a charter and chose Doha to host its permanent secretariat, giving Qatar a dominant role in the global gas industry. Qatar is the world's largest LNG exporter and its shipments will further grow by the end of 2010, by which time the country's mega trains will all become operational.
There are thirteen members listed on GECF's website: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kazakhstan (observer), Libya, Nigeria, Norway (observer), Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The accession of the UAE and the Netherlands to the GECF is in process.