Cleaner fuel at the GECF summit in Tehran

Natural Gas Platform

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) meeting which will take place a few days before the Paris COP21 agenda will be focused on sustainable development.  The GECF is a gathering of the world's leading gas producers whose first summit was held in Qatar's capital Doha in 2011. It was at this first Summit of the Organization that was to promote a "priority to long-term contracts, to establish a security database for exporters as for consumers of natural gas.

The member countries of the GECF commanding almost 70% of the world's gas reserves are certainly convinced of the cleanliness of this type of fuel and that it will be an important role in the future global energy market.

Last Wednesday, most Iranian media announced that the meeting of the GECF scheduled on November 23 in Tehran, Iran, will be focused on the most urgent problems of global energy demand, with a particular emphasis on the environment and sustainable development.

The GECF created in 2011, could be looked at the equivalent gas organization to the oil’s OPEC, with the same objective that is to notably strengthen all exchanges between exporting member countries so as to defend their interests.

At the Teheran meeting, it wants to exceptionally focus for the first time its work on environmental concerns, a few days away from the United Nations Conference for climate change (COP21) of Paris.

The Iranian Minister of oil declared : "The members of the GECF gas market is called to expand in the coming years due to the energy efficiency of gas to any negative effect on the planet, as well as the growth of consumption of natural gas and LNG," before adding : "gas as a clean fuel, will play an important role in the response to future global energetic demands."

Most importantly, Russian President Vladimir Putin may come to meet with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani during this meeting, it was announced in Moscow lately.

The Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will be attending this third summit of the GECF, media reports said.

The GECF represents 70% of world reserves

Like OPEC, GECF, reserves comprise 42% of world supply in natural gas, 40% of the gas supply world by pipelines and 65% of global LNG supply, from 12 countries.  Producers are apart from the Russian and Iranian giants, five are African (Algeria, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Nigeria), two are from the GCC’s UAE and Qatar, three are from South America (Bolivia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela).  Five countries have observer status such as Iraq, Kazakhstan, Norway, Oman, the Netherlands and Peru.

The objectives of this organization are "different" from those of OPEC, because "it is up to this forum to fix the price of gas.  A fair price is determined by the supply and demand", said the former Minister Qatari oil Mohammed Al Sadah, whose country is home to the secretariat General of GECF.  Yet, his Iranian counterpart, expressed GECF’s wish to give more influences to this forum on "the determination of the price and supply of gas to the global market", a role similar to that of OPEC.

The Iran wants to flood the global gas market

Apart from Putin, no less than nine heads of State and Government will take part in this forum including the president of Bolivia Eva Morales, the president of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro and the head of Algerian Government Abdelamalek Sellal.  In this gas meeting, the host country - which is currently constructing its largest reserve of natural gas in LNG - transformation will consider opportunities to develop its market shares and expand its sales gas to Asia, Southern Africa, and other regions in the world. "Iran will flood the world market for its gas since the lifting of international sanctions, expected by the end of 2015," said an Iranian minister.  In 2013, the second Summit of the GECF was held in Moscow with the consideration of the situation of the international gas market and the prospects for development of the gas industry.