Qatar will host a meeting in April of gas exporters that hold 70 per cent of the world’s reserves, Energy Minister Abdullah bin Hamad al Attiyah said yesterday.
The meeting comes after Iran made overtures to Russia last week about establishing a gas grouping like Opec, stoking concerns among energy-consuming countries.
Iran’s Oil Minister Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh said the exporters would discuss forming an Opec-like group.
“In the next meeting of the gas exporting countries they will decide about a gas Opec,” Vaziri Hamaneh told Iran’s Oil Ministry Web site Shana yesterday.
But Al Attiyah said he saw no need for an Opec-style group, and that gas exporters should concentrate instead on developing the Gas Exporting Country Forum.
“We do not see the need for the creation of a gas organisation (similar to Opec) because the issue of gas is more complex,” Al Attiyah said.

(Reuters)