Tehran’s GECF Summit to Host Six Heads of State

Heads of states from six member states of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) will attend the 3rd Gas Summit in Tehran on November 23.

Mehdi Asali, Iranian Oil Ministry’s secretary for OPEC affairs, said that the president of a non-GECF country will also attend the meeting, Shana news agency reported on November 15.

“Our main strategy is to help resolve security concerns, while helping to remove the climate change problem through replacing coal with natural gas at least in electricity generation. If natural gas replaces coal over the next 40 years, the share of GECF in the global gas market will increase and climate change will be curbed significantly," Asali said.

“No GECF member state is opposing this strategy, because in addition to earning revenues they will notably help protect the environment.”

Iran, Russia, Algeria, the UAE, Venezuela, Qatar, Egypt, Bolivia, Libya, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, and Trinidad and Tobago are the members of the forum and the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Peru, Iraq, Oman, and Norway hold observer status.