Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh held separate talks on Friday evening with the visiting Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre and Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Saleh al-Khebri prior to convention of the summit meeting scheduled for Monday.
Also, The Extraordinary Ministerial Meetings of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) started in Tehran on Saturday morning while oil and energy ministers from the majority of member states had arrived in Tehran until Friday evening.
Currently, the Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, Bolivia's newly appointed Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Luis Alberto Sanchez Fernandez, Minister of Mines, Industry & Energy Equatorial Guinea Equatorial Guinea Gabriel Nguema Lima, Azerbaijani Minister of Industry and Energy Natiq Aliyev, Venezuela's Minister of Petroleum and Mining Eulogio Antonio del Pino Diaz, UAE's Deputy Energy Minister Motarhamd al-Neyadi, Iraq's oil minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, Algerian Minister of Energy and Mines Saleh al-Khebri, Qatari Energy Minister Mohammed bin Saleh al-Sada, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov as well as Trinidad and Tobago Energy Minister Nicole Olivierre are staying in Tehran.
Later in the day, the 17th Ordinary Ministerial Meeting convenes with the Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu as the chairman to discuss the internal issues on the agenda such as budget and election of secretary general.
It has also been predicted that President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev whose countries are not GECF members will take part in the summit with the guest status which has led to speculations that GECF will add to its members during the Tehran's meeting.
On Monday (Nov. 23), the 3rd GECF Gas Summit will be held to discuss market outlook and strategy while dignitaries take the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the working sessions.
The GECF is the gathering of the world’s leading gas producers that provides a framework for exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.
It consists of 17 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat positioned in Doha, Qatar.
Previous GECF gas summits were held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013.
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