By Etuka Sunday
Barely three weeks after her election as the first female President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the
Ministerof Petroleum Resources, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke, has been appointed as the President of the Ministerial Meeting of the Gas
Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the first woman to be so appointed by the body.
A statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Ohi Alegbe said the appointment was announced
yesterday in Doha, Qatar, at the ongoing 16th Ministerial Conference of the GECF.
Mrs Alison-Madueke who could not attend the meeting because of her involvement in the ongoing negotiations to end the oil workers’ strike
was represented at the meeting by the Nigerian Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Shuaibu A. Ahmed.
The GECF is an inter-governmental organization established in Tehran, Iran, in 2001, to serve as a platform to promote the exchange of
experience, views, information and coordination in global gas exploration and production trends; current and anticipated supply-demand balance for gas; worldwide gas exploration, production and transportation technologies; the structure and development of gas markets (regional and global), amongst other common issues that pertain to the exploration, production and trade in natural gas.
The Forum is made up of 12 of the world’s leading producers of natural gas. It controls over 70% of global natural gas reserves, 85% of
global liquefied natural gas production, and 38% of global pipeline trade of the product.
Members include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya and Nigeria. Others are: Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago,
United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Other countries that enjoy observer-member status of the forum include Kazakhstan, Iraq, the
Netherlands, Norway and Oman.
The GECF session where Mrs Alison-Madueke was appointed as President was attended by ministers from Algeria, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia,
UAE, as well as heads of delegations from Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela, Netherlands, Norway and Oman.
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