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Iran admits some Opec members not keen on gas export group

Iran has acknowledged its enthusiasm for an Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries-style body for natural gas producers was not shared by everybody in Opec and said experts would hold more talks on the issue this month after a meeting in Tehran.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 00:45 May 1, 2008
  • Gulf News

Tehran: Iran has acknowledged its enthusiasm for an Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries-style body for natural gas producers was not shared by everybody in Opec and said experts would hold more talks on the issue this month after a meeting in Tehran.

Deputy ministers and senior experts of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) met in the Iranian capital on Monday and Tuesday to debate the idea, as well as a Russian proposal for a "charter" for the informal club.

Few details have so far emerged about the discussions. Major gas exporters have met informally for several years within the forum, widely seen as a talking shop.

Iran has been pushing for turning it into a more formal body for natural gas producers akin to the 13-member Opec, whose output decisions can send oil prices up or down on world markets.

"Iran is after taking a central role in the formation of the organisation of gas exporting countries, as a country with great gas reserves," Hossein Noghreh-kar-Shirazi, deputy oil minister for international affairs, said. "But some Opec members have no inclination toward the formation of this organisation," he was quoted as saying by the Mehr News Agency, without naming the countries.

Opec includes big gas producers such as Qatar and Algeria, as well as countries sitting on major gas reserves. The gas forum also includes non-Opec members, notably Russia.

Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari said experts would hold more talks in Moscow this month but did not give details, the official IRNA news agency reported.

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