Gas Exporting Countries Forum to consider "coordinated moves"
MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - Member states of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum will consider coordinated action to defend their interests at a planned GECF summit in Moscow on Monday and Tuesday, a senior Kremlin aide said.
The GECF member countries - Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela - together control 62% of the world's proven natural gas reserves. Nearly half of global gas exports come from those countries.
The Netherlands, Norway, Kazakhstan and Iraq have observer status in the GECF.
The summit would discuss "development prospects for the global gas market, ways to stimulate the consumption of this type of fuel and possible coordinated moves to defend the interests of the producer countries," said Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov.
"Balance between supply and demand and, on the whole, global energy stability and security largely depend on coordinated action of the forum member states," he said.
The summit is planned to issue a declaration stating "the positions of the forum member countries on priority issues of international cooperation in the gas sphere," Ushakov said.
GECF Secretary General Leonid Bokhanovskiy told reporters: "There are several axles that have the interests of gas producers consolidated around them. First, tying gas prices to the oil product basket, and the second element that, as we believe, stabilizes the market and reduces volatility are long-term contracts. In effect, the producer countries have reached a full consensus on these two principles."
The summit's plenary session at the Kremlin on Monday will be followed by a cultural program the same day - the leaders of the foreign delegations are invited to President of the Russian Federation Cup races at the Moscow Central Hippodrome, and President Vladimir Putin will host a reception.
