Buhari attends Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum in Tehran

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja Sunday for Tehran to participate in the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) opening in the Iranian capital on November 23, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity said on Friday.

It also seeks to encourage more governments to join the GECF, he added.

An extraordinary meeting of gas exporting countries has begun in Tehran ahead of a Monday summit which will gather several leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, to discuss issues related to gas production, exports and pricing.

GECF ministers were to carry on with another meeting in the afternoon in which they were expected to choose a secretary general.

GECF is a gathering of the world’s leading gas producers and was set up as worldwide governmental organization with the objective to increase the level of coordination and strengthen the collaboration among the member countries.

GECF is now comprised of 18 countries as follows: Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

Azerbaijan was further given the status of an observer in the GECF. “If Iran is looking to boost revenues dramatically from oil sales, it will be disappointed”, he said, adding that Iran’s future is more gas than oil.

Zanganeh also said OPEC needed to manage the return of Iranian oil production within its current ceiling.

Officials say Iran must double production to 1.3 bcm a day by 2020 under its development plan, putting the country among the ranks of major gas exporters.

“Increasing crude exports (in the global market) is Iran’s inalienable right and we do not need the permission of anybody or any organization in this regard”, Zangeneh said.