3rd Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) Summit Holds On Monday

ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. (Unic Press UK) – The 3rd Gas Summit of the Heads of State and Government of the GECF Member Countries will hold on Monday, 23 November 2015, in Tehran, the capital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The 1st and 2nd Summit were, respectively, held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013.

The objectives of the GECF is to “support the sovereign rights of its Member Countries over their natural gas resources and their ability to independently plan and manage the sustainable, efficient and environmentally conscious development, use and conservation of natural gas resources for the benefit of their people.”

The expectation is that the 3rd Summit that will be sealed with the “Tehran Declaration” will tarry with the objectives of the GECF by deliberating on:

• Worldwide gas exploration and production trends;
• Present and anticipated supply-demand balance for gas;
• Worldwide gas exploration, production and transportation technologies;
• The structure and development of gas markets (regional and global);
• Transport of gas: pipelines and LNG carriers;
• Interrelationship of gas with oil products, coal, and other energy sources;
• Technologies and approaches for sustainable environmental management, taking into account environmental constraints, national regulations and multilateral agreements on environment and their impact on volume and sustainability of gas consumption; and
• Techniques and approaches for maximizing the contribution of natural gas resources, at all stages of the value chain, to the promotion of sustainable economies and human resources development in member countries.

The GECF is comprised of 18 countries: 12 member countries, namely Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela; and 6 observer members, namely Kazakhstan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru.

Nigeria President Muhammadu Buhari, who will attend the meeting for the first time as President, will lead Nigeria’s team that comprises of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Power, Works & Housing Babatunde Fashola, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu and the National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno.

Credit: Unic Press UK