Putin to speak at Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran

President Buhari also called on the forum to foster technical and economic cooperation among member states.

“It is therefore imperative that the GECF plays a significant role towards energy security by driving the formulation of a sustainable pricing mechanism that will guarantee fair and reasonable for both producers and consumers, ” he added.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter, led OPEC to reject demands from members including Algeria and Venezuela to cut supply to bolster prices. It will reflect the principled positions of the GECF member states on priority issues of cooperation in the gas sphere. The development of conventional and unconventional natural gas supplies and evolution of natural gas price trends was also discussed in the secretariat’s report.

Ushakov earlier told journalists that Putin will hold talks with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the sidelines of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Tehran on November 23.

He paid tribute to the government and people of Iran for hosting the 3rdSummit of the GECF Heads of State and Government. “We will look at the agenda of the event and will try to find time for these and, possibly, other contacts, including brief meetings on the go”, the Kremlin spokesman said.

Asked if he expected OPEC (the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) to maintain its strategy at the meeting on December 4, he said: “I don’t expect to receive any new agreement”.

Considering Iran’s enormous gas reserves, its reentry into the global gas market, following ratification of the nuclear deal, could have important consequences, Mehrzad Boroujerdi, a political science professor at Syracuse University, outlined.

Buhari also charged the forum on the need to deploy research and development initiatives towards technology innovations in exploration and development processing, logistics and marketing for the benefit of member countries.