19th GECF Ministerial Meeting takes place on REW sidelines

October 4, 2017

19th GECF Ministerial Meeting takes place on REW sidelines

Moscow, 4 October. – Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak chaired the 19th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum on the sidelines of Russian Energy Week 2017. The meeting was attended by representatives of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela, as well as representatives of Azerbaijan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman, and Peru as observers.

The ministers reviewed a short-term report on the gas market as well as a long-term forecast and discussed the achievements, opportunities, and challenges facing the market today and in the future.

The delegation heads stressed the importance of universal adherence to the Paris Agreement and reaffirmed their determination to continue promoting natural gas as an affordable, reliable, and clean source of energy.

The Ministers approved a five-year work plan for the Forum during the meeting and also appointed State Secretary and Russian Deputy Minister of Energy Yury Sentyurin as the next Secretary General of the GECF for a two-year term starting in January 2018.

It was decided that the 20th GECF Ministerial Meeting would be held on 14 November 2018.

During a press conference following the GECF Ministerial Meeting, Minister of Energy Alexander Novak said: “The meeting agenda included 24 issues. We managed to reach compromise solutions on all the relevant issues and ensure the continued development of the organization in 2018. GECF countries, including observer countries, hold 73% of the world’s proven gas reserves, accounting for almost 60% of the global production and 62% of the export of this type of fuel”.

Novak stressed that the GECF makes a significant contribution to energy security and the progressive growth of the global economy. 

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