Gas exporting group loses and gains new members
Gas exporting group loses and gains new members
Peg Mackey Reuters Algiers
A gas exporters' forum launched about a year ago to address gas supplies, marketing and pricing issues, recruited four new members on Friday but two founding members dropped out.
Ministers and senior gas officials are gathered in the Algerian capital Algiers for the second ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
"The best evidence of its success, if need be, is that today new participants have joined the forum - Bolivia, Egypt, Libya and Venezuela," said Algerian Oil Minister Chakib Khelil, host of the second ministerial meeting of GECF.
Two founding members, Norway and Turkmenistan, have dropped out, leaving Iran, Algeria, Indonesia, Brunei, Russia, Qatar, Oman, Nigeria and Malaysia as the remaining inaugural members.
Delegates said apart from the new participants, little has changed in the gas exporters's group, born last May in Iran. Gas exporters at the time dispelled the inevitable comparisons with oil cartel OPEC and said GECF was created for exchanging views.
Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said on Friday the time was ripe for such a group which holds 73 percent of the world's gas reserves and handles 63 percent of its natural gas exports.
"The foundation of GECF was built in Tehran and (I hope) the construction is completed in the near term," he said.
Zaganeh said consumers would be invited to the next meeting.
His Algerian counterpart, Chakib Khelil, dispelled any comparison of the group to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
"It is worth reiterating that this communication arena is neither a cartel nor a pressure group, but is in fact a tool for cooperation, consultation between partners involved in the development of the gas industry," said Khelil.
Some are even loath to label it a group.
"We are not trying to create an organization," Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah told Reuters. "We are only in a forum where we exchange our points of view on technology and expertise."
Ambitious new recruit to the forum, Egypt said it would table a scheme to find a new gas pricing formula.
"We'll propose to set up a team to study a new formula for pricing - a fair and balanced formula for both producers and consumers," Egyptian Oil Minister Sameh Fahmy told Reuters.
Ministers sang the praises of clean-burning gas, and said GECF could go a long way in meeting burgeoning demand, especially in Europe and Asia.
"The world is paying a lot of attention to gas," said Qatar's Attiyah. "Growth in gas is faster than any other alternative form of energy."
According to a report presented to the forum, world gas demand will double over the next 30 years, helped in particular by growth in gas fired generation, but gas reserves are becoming increasingly remote from major markets.
Gas demand will rise to around 4.8 trillion cubic metres a year by 2030 with increased use all around the world, said the report from Edinburgh-based analysts Wood Mackenzie.