November 23, 2017

The 4th Gas Exporting Countries Forum Summit kicks off in Bolivia

MOSCOW, 23 November - The 4^th Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit opened on Tuesday in Santa Cruz, Bolivia and will continue through 24 November. Energy ministers from 12 countries are meeting to discuss energy markets, the role of natural gas in the development of the global energy industry and continued cooperation on energy.

GECF members together control 67% of the world’s natural gas reserves. The members include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE and Venezuela. Kazakhstan, The Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru and Norway are observers.

 Minister of Energy Alexander Novak represents Russia at the GECF Summit. He said that 2017 has been a busy year for the GECF. “The decisions made at the 19^th Ministerial Meeting in Moscow laid the foundations for the Forum’s development for years to come”, he added.

The head of Russia’s delegation presented the outlook for the Forum’s development: “In the current market situation, GECF faces the task of arguing for maximizing use of natural gas as the cleanest, most affordable and modern of fossil fuels”.

GECF summits take place bi-annually, while ministerial meetings are convened each year. This year, a ministerial meeting took place on 4 October in Moscow as part of the Russian Energy Week. The 19^th Ministerial Meeting elected Russia’s Deputy Energy Minister Yuri Sentyurin as GECF Secretary-General, replacing Iran’s Mohammad Hossein Adeli.

Sources: RIA Novosti https://ria.ru/world/20171121/1509199066.html

Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation https://minenergo.gov.ru/node/9915