The 10th Ministerial Meeting was an opportunity to exchange views on the latest and mid-term developments in the natural gas market, assess their impact on the GECF countries and provide guidelines for the newly established Secretariat.

The Ministers agreed that ensuring adequate and reliable supplies of gas at prices reflecting parity with oil prices is a challenge, considering that natural gas is an essential part of the fuel mix and plays an important role in satisfying the global need for an environmentally friendly energy source. They also supported the increase of energy security by means of cross investments and technological exchange without unjustified barriers (especially those related to carbon taxation) between consumers and producers based on their growing mutual interdependence. Therefore, the Ministers encouraged a model in which a gas consumer may participate in upstream and gas infrastructure development projects in a producer-exporter country, while a gas exporter may invest in mid and downstream networks and other gas facilities on a consumer side.

The acknowledgement of the relevant results of the report on the “International Gas Market Outlook to 2015” presented by Algeria, the assessment of the possibility of organizing a future Gas Summit of the GECF, and the invitation to other gas exporting states that support the GECF Statute to become part of the organization as Members and Observer Members were part of the decisions of the 10th Ministerial Meeting.