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Major gas exporters consider trade body
Russia, Iran, and Qatar agreed on Tuesday to strengthen their cooperation. Tehran says there is now consensus among the three gas powers to set up an OPEC-style organization.
Iranian Oil Minister, Gholam Hossein Nozari, center,
speaks with media during a joint press conference
with chief of Russia's state gas monopoly OAO Gazprom,
Alexei Miller, right, and Qatar's Deputy Premier and
Minister of Energy and Industry, Abdullah bin Hamad
Al-Attiya, at the conclusion of their meeting in Tehran,
Iran, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2008.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
The three countries agreed on Tuesday to form a gas troika, which would become a permanent body, holding regular meetings to discuss gas market developments.
Iran's oil minister said he and Qatar's Energy Minister and the Chief Executive of Russia's gas export monopoly, Gazprom, have agreed to establish a high-ranking natural gas committee. And the three parties have decided to discuss the cartel further at the next meeting.
Gholamhosseini Nozari, Iranian Oil Minister, said, "The three countries of Iran, Russia and Qatar have almost 60 percent of the world's gas reserves. And we are seriously interested in forming an organization of gas-exporting countries."
Russia, Iran, and Qatar are ranked the first, second, and third biggest holders, respectively, of natural gas reserves in the world.
Europe and the US have warned against such a move, saying it could pose a danger to global energy security and create room for price manipulation.
