Buhari Jets To Iran For Gas Export Summit

Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh said that the country would have hold talks with Russian Federation, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan on gas swap within the forum.

President Muhammadu Buhari will depart Abuja on Sunday for Tehran to participate in the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries’ Forum (GECF) opening in the Iranian capital on Monday.

Iran plans to add 1 million barrels a day within five to six months of the curbs being removed and that increase should be within OPEC’s production ceiling, Amir Hossein Zamaninia, deputy minister for commerce & worldwide affairs, said in Tehran on Saturday.

At the end of the ministerial meeting, it was announced that the next, the 18th ministerial meeting of GECF will be held on November 17, in 2016.

Zanganeh said he was due to meet with Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran to discuss the oil market.

After the withdrawal of the Nigerian representative, Adeli had to compete with the Libyan candidate and managed to obtain the maximum vote to extend his two-year period as the Secretary General of GECF.

The GECF is the gathering of the world’s leading gas producers that provides a framework for the exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.

“The issue (Iran’s decision on gas exporting route) hinges on Turkey, and how the country is going to look at the matter”, the minister noted.

Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru have the status of observer members.

The presidency statement reads in part: “Nigeria and other GECF members now account for 42 percent of global gas production, 70 percent of global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipeline transmission of gas and 65 percent of the global trade in Liquefied Natural Gas”.