DUSHANBE, February 1, Asia-Plus — A gas cartel equivalent to OPEC, which would set quotas and prices, may appear in the summer of 2008, Russia’s
Kommersant
reported referring to information from Gazprom, Russia’s state-controlled company.
If to believe this information, the Russian side plans to propose to adopt a charter of an international alliance of national non-government gas suppliers at a session of Eurasian Economic Community’s (EAEC) commission that will be held in St. Petersburg in April.
It was noted that two or three member nations’ endorsing the charter is enough for creating the new alliance. According
to Kommersant
, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan have agreed to discuss the charter, and Belarus is considering the documents.
In the meantime, another Russia’s newspaper,
Novaya Politika
, reports that Russia intends to create a structure, which would group CIS states extracting and supplying natural gas, on the basis of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).
Representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Industries (MoEI) and Tojikgaz (Tajik state natural-gas distributor) said that they do have information about that.
Tajik economist Nouriddin Qayumov noted that the alliance o gas suppliers would provide a good opportunity to Tajikistan for improvement of its gas sector, “and Tajikistan’s admission to this alliance would be for benefit of it.” ”.
Known Tajik economist, Professor Hojimuhammad Umarov also noted that admission to the alliance would be for benefit of Tajikistan. According to him, Tajikistan now needs funds for exploring reserves of its gas deposits. “Gazprom could invest considerable funds in development of Tajikistan’s economy and thereby strengthen its presence in the country,” he said.
We will recall that Gazprom has received two licenses to explore oil and gas reserves in Tajikistan. The Rengan deposit, located in the Rudaki district, has possible gas reserves of 35 billion cubic meters, and Sargazon, located in Khatlon’s Danghara district, has possible reserves of 30 billion cubic meters.
According to expert estimates, the aggregate raw-materials resources of the oil and gas bearing areas in Tajikistan amount to about 1,000 billion tons of reference fuel, according to expert estimates. But production work at oil and gas fields require considerable expenditure, since hydrocarbon deposits occur at depths ranging from 6.5 to 8 kilometers. Foreign experts question the profitability of such deposits.
The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is an organization of world”s leading gas producers, which was established in Tehran in 2001.
The aims of the GECF are: to foster the concept of mutuality of interests by favoring dialogue between producers, between producers and consumers and between governments and energy-related industries; to provide a platform to promote study and exchange of views; to promote a stable and transparent energy market.
The GECF has no official statute or charter. The forum doesn”t have fixed membership structure, however Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad & Tobago, the UAE and Venezuela. Turkmenistan, Bolivia, Indonesia, Libya and Oman have participated at different ministerial meetings. Norway has status of observer.
Since the establishment of the GECF in 2001, there has always been speculation, particularly in Europe, that the world”s largest producers of natural gas, in particular Russia and Iran, intend to create a gas cartel equivalent to OPEC, which would set quotas and prices. The idea of a gas OPEC was first floated by Russian President Vladimir Putin and backed by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbyev in 2002. In May 2006, Gazprom deputy chairman Alexander Medvedev threatened that Russia would create “an alliance of gas suppliers that will be more influential than OPEC” if Russia did not get its way in energy negotiations with Europe. Iranian officials have explicitly expressed strong support for a gas cartel and held official talks with Russia
Cartel speculation was again raised when the ministers met on April 9, 2007. The 6th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF established an expert group, chaired by Russia, to study how to strengthen the GECF. The group will look at factors including pricing, infrastructure, and the relationship between producers and consumers. According to specialists, this means that in the long term the GECF will move toward becoming a gas OPEC
