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.