Tehran, Jan 3, IRNA Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Mohammad Hossein Adeli said the dropping oil prices are leaving impact on the world gas market as well.Talking to IRNA, he said the low oil prices will have their due impact on gas prices in world markets after a certain period.
He noted that dropping oil prices have lowered the gas prices by 40 percent in Europe and 15 to 20 percent in the Far East.
He also pointed out that unlike oil, which could have almost identical prices in international markets as a global product, gas is regarded as a regional production item which could not be sold in a single price.
The global gas market comprises of four regional ones namely the US, the Southern Europe, Northern Europe and Latin America, he explained, noting that gas prices are set separately according to the situation in each region.
Despite developments pushing these four distinct regions towards adopting a single price, he added, the international gas market is expected to continue with the current method of regional pricing system until 2035.
The GECF is an intergovernmental organization formed by a group of the world's leading natural gas producers including Iran, Russia, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, Peru, UAE and Oman.
In an earlier interview, Adeli remarked that the Gas Exporting Countries Forum has set up a workgroup to monitor market developments on a daily-weekly-monthly basis.
The main work of GECF is to monitor the international gas market, he said.
Based on its bylaw, the organization is a platform for facilitating the exchange of information and experience among member countries.
The GECF member-states hold 70 percent of the worlds gas reserves and account for 40 percent of the worlds gas output and 65 percent of compressed natural gas.
Iran is to host the third GECF summit in fall of 2015.
The forum is an intergovernmental organization of the top natural gas producers comprising Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, the UAE and Venezuela as its permanent members.
The Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Norway hold observer status in GECF.
It was established with the objective of building a meaningful dialogue between gas producers and consumers to ensure the security of supply and demand in global gas markets.
Iran, which sits on the worlds largest natural gas reserves, plans to enhance gas production by increasing foreign and domestic investments, especially in its rich South Pars Gas Field.
By IRNA
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