TEHRAN, Iran, Nov, 12
Trend:
Iran’s Bijan Namdar Zanganeh delivered a speech at the GECF 22nd Ministerial Meeting held in a format of videoconference
Referring to the thread of the deadly pandemic with all the psychological pressure, Zanganeh said that “This meeting is unique in many ways, as it`s being held during the pandemic unprecedented in the last 100 years,” Trend reports.
“Since May 2001 GECF has taken big steps to have a target-oriented and specialized dialogue on gas issues with gas producing and consuming countries and international energy organizations,” he said.
He went on to say that despite the Covid-19 pandemic and geostrategic challenges that slow down global economic growth and the changing behavior of gas consumers, better days are ahead of GECF, its member states, and other gas-producing countries as a whole.
“In the last 4 years, the international community has experienced a big blow to promote multilateralism and sustainable development and globalization,” said the Minister.
“Relying on domestic technology, human resources, and investments, we have reached production of 1 billion cubic meters of gas on a daily basis. The 95 percent of the 85 million population of the country have access to pipe gas in their homes,” the Minister added.
“These 4 years of the geostrategic challenges and Covid-19 crisis taught us many lessons,” he noted. “Among these lessons is solidarity and international cooperation to fight the global crisis.”
The 22nd annual ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) kicked off today under the rotating Presidency of Algeria’s minister of energy, Abdelmajid Attar.
Oil and energy ministers of the GECF member countries will discuss the current issues related to the gas industry and its interconnected domains of geopolitics, economy, and sustainability. Membership expansion, annual budget, the new GECF Award, and the 6th GECF Gas Summit of Heads of State and Government, scheduled for 2021 will also be addressed during the meeting.
In addition to a review of the GECF flagship publications, the Annual Short-Term Gas Market Report, the Global Gas Outlook 2050 as well as the Annual Statistical Bulletin will be unveiled.
The GECF member countries include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Also, Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Norway, Oman, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates have the status of Observer Members.
With the current members, the GECF has a strong position in global energy markets and among international energy organizations. Together, the coalition accounts for 72% of the world's proven gas reserves, 46% of its marketed production, 55% of pipelines, and 61% of LNG exports across the globe.