Ali Mohammad Mousavi, who serves as deputy minister of oil for international and trade affairs, said on Wednesday that Iran will be the rotating president of the December GECF meeting in Tehran.
Some 16 countries which are among the world’s most important producers and exporters of natural gas will attend the Tehran ministerial meeting which will be chaired by Iranian Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad, he said.
The GECF has 12 members and eight observer states, with some other nations usually taking part in its meetings as guests, Mousavi said.
He said that 10 countries had expressed readiness for participating in the forthcoming Tehran meeting, adding that the meeting will have the quorum to convene.
In a related development, the GECF Secretary General Mohamed Hamel arrived in the Iranian capital on Wednesday to take part in the Tehran meeting.
Iran proposed the formation of the GECF in the late 1990s before the Forum held its first meeting in 2001 in Tehran and officially started its activities nine years later. Its secretariat is currently based in Qatar.
The GECF countries hold 70% of the world’s proven gas reserves some 40% of the global gas production.
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