The 22nd Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was held on the 12 November 2020, under the Chairmanship of HE Abdelmadjid Attar, Minister of Energy of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria as its President. The meeting was convened by videoconference.

It was attended by Energy Ministers and top authorities from Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela, as well as Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, and Norway as Observers.

The 20th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which coincided with the 10th Anniversary of the Forum, convened in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on Wednesday November 14, 2018, under the Chairmanship of His Excellency Senator the Honourable Franklin Khan, Minister of Energy and Energy Industries of Trinidad and Tobago, and President of the Ministerial Meeting.

The 18th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was convened in Doha, State of Qatar on Thursday, November 17, 2016, under the Chairmanship of His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar, as President of the Ministerial Meeting.

The Meeting was attended by Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela as well as Azerbaijan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Norway, Oman and Peru as Observers. The Chairman of the Executive Board and the Secretary General attended the meeting.

The 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was convened in Doha, Qatar, and chaired by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy of Qatar, and Head of Delegation of Nigeria, as Alternate President

The Meeting was attended by Ministers from Algeria, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia and UAE and Heads of Delegations from Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Nigeria, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela as well as Netherlands, Norway and Oman as Observers. The Chairman of the Executive Board, and Secretary General as well attended the meeting.

A la Reunión asistieron Ministros de Argelia, Irán, Libia, Qatar, Rusia y Emiratos Árabes Unidos y Jefes de Delegación de Bolivia, Guinea Ecuatorial, Egipto, Nigeria, Perú, Trinidad y Tobago y Venezuela, así como Países Bajos, Noruega y Omán como Observadores. El presidente del Comité Ejecutivo y el secretario general también asistieron a la reunión.

The Ministers of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum met in Malabo, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, on November 21st, 2012, hosted by HE Gabriel M. Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines, Industry and Energy of Equatorial Guinea, to exchange views on current developments in global natural gas market and the progress of the affairs of the Forum.

During the 12th Ministerial Meeting held in June in Cairo, the Ministers emphasized the importance of dialogue between producers and consumers for the purpose of achieving a stable gas market; the timeliness of a mechanism to achieve balanced and fair gas prices for both parties, and the necessary cooperation between producers and consumers to support and sustain the required investments to develop the gas reserves in the producing countries and exchange of know-how and technologies in that regard, at the same time taking into account that meeting local demand for natural gas in the producing countries is a priority.

The 10th Ministerial Meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on the latest and mid-term developments in the natural gas market, assess their impact on the GECF countries and provide guidelines for the newly established Secretariat.

The Ministers agreed that ensuring adequate and reliable supplies of gas at prices reflecting parity with oil prices is a challenge, considering that natural gas is an essential part of the fuel mix and plays an important role in satisfying the global need for an environmentally friendly energy source. They also supported the increase of energy security by means of cross investments and technological exchange without unjustified barriers (especially those related to carbon taxation) between consumers and producers based on their growing mutual interdependence. Therefore, the Ministers encouraged a model in which a gas consumer may participate in upstream and gas infrastructure development projects in a producer-exporter country, while a gas exporter may invest in mid and downstream networks and other gas facilities on a consumer side.

During the years 2007 and 2008, the definite establishment of the GECF institutional base took place. In this regard, during the 6th Ministerial Meeting held in 2007 in Doha, Qatar, the achievements of the previous meetings were reviewed and it was recommended to develop a Statute for the Forum, to expand the Liaison Office so that it could become the Secretariat of the organization and to draft its internal regulations. For this purpose the Ministers created the High Level Committee, which held meetings in Qatar, Egypt, Iran, Venezuela and Russia throughout 2007 and 2008.

During the 4th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF in Cairo, the Forum made steps to advance towards the goal of developing a more integrated discussion platform and initiated the creation of the Executive Bureau (which would transform later in to the Executive Board) and consolidated the Liaison Office.

The 2nd Ministerial Meeting in Algiers emphasized the importance of dialogue and co-operation between producers and consumers to ensure the development of the gas industry, to meet the requirements of the world markets under the best possible conditions without any prejudice to the interest of any of the parties.