The East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) kicked-off from Cairo on January 14, hosting the Greek, Cypriot, Italian, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Ministers of Energy, who came to Egypt upon the invitation of the Egyptian Minister of Petroleum Tarek El Molla, Egypt Oil & Gas reports.

The ministers confirmed that the Mediterranean discoveries will have a profound impact on the region’s energy security and economic development. Hence, they affirmed the necessity of cooperation among them.

The ministers agreed upon the EMGF’s main objectives, which include assisting the creation of a regional gas market that benefits the member countries by securing supply and demand, optimizing resource development and  cost of infrastructure, having an improved commercial relationships and competitive pricing, as well as utilizing efficiently existing and new infrastructure.

Adding to the main objectives of the EMGF, boosting cooperation through creating a systematic and structured dialogue on natural gas, including the regional natural gas policies and promoting the basis of international law, encouraging higher understanding of the interdependency and the cooperation benefits by having a dialogue among  the forum’s members.

According to the main objectives, EMGF’s members would help producing countries, and gas reserves owning countries in the region in their efforts to monetize their existing and their future reserves. This goal could be achieved by encouraging cooperation among them, and with the transit and consuming countries in the region. Member countries would further utilizing the existing infrastructure and develop more infrastructure options in order to serve existing and future discoveries.

Moreover, the forum would further include helping consumer countries in their endeavors to cover their demands and to formulate the gas policies in the region along with the transit countries. Achieving this goal would allow sustainable partnership between the key players across the region’s gas value chain.

According to the forum’s targets, member countries would ensure the environmental sustainability of gas exploration and production, as well as infrastructure construction and transportation. The countries would promote gas integration with other energy resources, including renewables and in the power grid.