The 17th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was convened in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran on Saturday, 21st November 2015, under the Chairmanship of His Excellency Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as President of the Ministerial Meeting, and Alternate President from the State of Libya.

The Meeting was attended by Ministers from Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela as well as Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, and Peru as Observers. The Chairman of the Executive Board, and Secretary General as well attended the meeting.
In his opening remarks, the President of the Ministerial Meeting gave an overview of developments in the gas markets and outlined the challenge facing the GECF Member countries, emphasizing the need for enhanced cooperation and coordination among GECF Member countries to promote natural gas and realize the objectives of the GECF.
The Ministerial Meeting discussed the global gas market report presented by the Secretariat including recent developments in the world economy, natural gas demand, challenges and competition from other fuel sources and other exporters. The report also discussed the position of GECF on the global gas trade by pipeline and LNG, and the important role of GECF in gas supply. The development of conventional and unconventional natural gas supply and evolution of natural gas price trends was also discussed in the Secretariat’s report.
The Ministers also discussed the impact of environmental commitment and the COP 21, and its implication on energy policies and demand for gas.
Secretary General presented the report of the two TEC meetings held during 2015, the progress report about the completion of the Global Gas Model as well as the Outlook and the perspective of the market up to 2040 and the market trends in the medium and long terms.
A progress report about development and preparation of the long term strategy was also submitted to the Ministers. The Ministers commended the work done by the Secretariat for the quality work on the gas market report, Global Gas Model and the Outlook as well as Long Term Strategy.
The Ministerial Meeting reiterated the need for common understanding and collective action among GECF Member countries to address common challenges in the gas industry, in particular, developments in the energy market with a focus on the supply and demand.
The Ministers renewed the term of His Excellency Dr. S.M. Hossein Adeli as Secretary General of the GECF for a period of two years in accordance with the Statute.
The Ministers appointed His Excellency Dr. Mohammad Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy of Qatar, as President of the Ministerial Meeting from January 1st until 31st December 2016, and His Excellency, Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Petroleum as Alternate President for the same period.
The Ministers approved the Republic of Azerbaijan as the new Observer Member of the GECF. It was also decided that the 18th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF will be convened in Doha, State of Qatar, in November 17th, 2016.
Leading up to the 17th Ministerial Meeting, the Forum had two high-level meetings in Tehran to finalise arrangements for the Summit, the 4th Meeting of High-Level Ad Hoc Group for the 3rd Gas Summit and an Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting Chaired by His Excellency Bijan Namdar Zangeneh, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Ministers expressed their appreciation to His Excellency, Dr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran and to authorities of the City of Tehran for their hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the meeting.

Shana
Nov,22