TEHRAN, Nov. 18 (Shana) � General secretaries of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Abadallah El-Badri and International Energy Forum (IEF) Aldo Flores-Quiroga have confirmed their participation in the third summit meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), sources close to the meeting told Shana on Wednesday.
The summit to be held in Tehran on November 20-23 will be host to seven heads of state and government including President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow with the guest status whose country is one the world�s largest holders of gas resources but is not a GECF member.
Earlier media reports said presidents of Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Russia, and Venezuela are going to participate in the event.

All 12 full members and five observer members will be present in the summit�s preceding expert-level and ministerial board meetings at the highest level, the sources said.
Previous GECF gas summits were held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013.

The GECF is the gathering of the world�s leading gas producers that provides a framework for exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.
It consists of 17 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat positioned in Doha, Qatar.

Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are main members of the gas exporting body. Observer countries are the Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Peru and Norway.
GECF members account for 42 percent of global gas output, 70 percent of global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipe gas transmission, and 65 percent of global trade of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

By SHANA