GECF Meeting Held in Teheran (Iran)

The 15th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was convened in Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran, under the chairmanship of the Minister of Petroleum, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, President of the Ministerial Meeting, and Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar, as Alternate President.

The Meeting was attended by representatives of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, as well as Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands and Norway as Observers.

In his opening remarks the President of the Ministerial Meeting gave an overview of developments in the gas markets and outlined the challenges facing the GECF, and its Member countries. He emphasized the need for the Forum to enhance Member countries’ cooperation and expand exchange of experience, promote synergies towards adoption of common policies, raise the dialogue-profile of GECF internationally and create conditions for the updating of contracts and pricing mechanism to enhance producer-consumer risk-sharing.

The Ministers and Heads of Delegations exchanged views on recent developments in the international gas markets and reaffirmed their commitment to the Moscow Declaration, which sets a framework for GECF Member countries to collaborate and cooperate in the development and use of their natural gas resources.

The Ministers appointed S.M. Hossein Adeli , Iranian national, as the Secretary General of the Forum for a period of two years and expressed their appreciation to Leonid Bokhanovskiy for his service and achievements during his tenure.

The Ministers also confirmed the new members of the Executive Board, and appointed Abdulbari Ali-Al-Arousi – Minister of Oil and Gas of the State of Libya, as President of the Ministerial Meeting, and Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as Alternate President.

The Program of Work and Budget of the Organization for next year was approved by the Ministers. It was also decided that the 16th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF will be convened in 2014 in Doha, State of Qatar.
The Ministers expressed their appreciation to Hassan Feridon Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and to the People and Authorities of the City of Tehran for their hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the Meeting.

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LNG World News Staff, November 04, 2013