Main gas exporter’s organisation discussed

To be created before 2008 end

El Khabar, 2 february 2008

The main gas exporting countries are discussing the creation of an organisation gathering all these countries before the end of the ongoing year. This decision is as a result of the talks initiated in Doha meeting, last April; Russia will be in charge of this process, together with a special coordination group.
Gas exporting countries will elaborate soon the measures aiming at making the bodies of this organisation official by the end of 2008, has unveiled Dow Jones Press Agency, while the big exporting countries will announce the bodies and the people appointed to head this organisation, added this source.
The agency has relied on an official close the organisation creation process who spoke on condition of anonymity “we are wishing that the club’s new secretary general would be appointed by the end of 2008 or by early 2009,” he told the press agency.

These developments are resulted in talks initiated between many cartel countries including Algeria, Russia, Qatar, Venezuela and Iran, after an informal club of gas exporting countries has been adopted. However the same source indicated that such an institution that will gather the mere gas exporting countries including Algeria, Russia, Qatar and other gas exporting countries, as well as some producing ones just like Emirates and Egypt, so far other exporting and producing countries like Norway, have not yet expressed their opinion about the organisation creation.

02-02-2008
By Hafid Soualili / Translation Section