Iran urges unity, co-op among GECF members

Iran’s Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh on Thursday called for more unity and closer cooperation among the members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), Shana reported.

Addressing the 21st ministerial meeting of GECF in Moscow’s Metropol Hotel, Zanganeh urged gas-exporting countries to unite and further cooperate in a bid to better tackle challenges that the global gas market is facing.

“The first idea to create an OPEC-like organization for producers and exporters of natural gas was raised in a meeting in Tehran in 2001,” Zanganeh said, stressing that there have been many advances since establishment of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

He further stated that the main task of the GECF countries is balancing the energy market and a sustainable supply of gas to the consumers, adding besides this task, attention to environmental issues and facing challenges in the field of the gas market is also necessary.

The official said defending the national interests of the member states and resisting the pressures imposed by some world powers was an inevitable necessity.
“Ensuring energy security and the free flow of oil and gas should be in line with the interests of all countries,” he added.

The organization's member states are growing and its fifth annual summit is set to be held in Guinea Ecuatorial later this year.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum is an international governmental organization which provides the framework for exchanging experience and information among member countries.

Iran, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela are the permanent members of GECF and Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have the status of observer members.

source: Tehran Times