The 16th Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) was convened in Doha, Qatar, and chaired by His Excellency Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy of Qatar, and Head of Delegation of Nigeria, as Alternate President

The Meeting was attended by Ministers from Algeria, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia and UAE and Heads of Delegations from Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Nigeria, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela as well as Netherlands, Norway and Oman as Observers. The Chairman of the Executive Board, and Secretary General as well attended the meeting.

The Ministerial Meeting discussed the global gas market report presented by the Secretary General, which covered the latest developments in the energy market in general and in the gas market in particular, including but not limited to: short term trend of supply and demand for natural gas worldwide and in specific regions and countries, the evolution of LNG trade across the regions, developments of the gas prices. They assessed the complexity and dynamics of the global natural gas market in the short, medium and long term.

The Ministerial Meeting reiterated the need to monitor the challenges facing the gas industry and the Secretariat will continue the evaluation of developments occurring in the energy market with a focus on the supply and demand.

The Ministers decided to start the preparations for the Third Gas Summit in Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran in 2015.

The Ministers acknowledged and commended the recent activities and initiatives by the Secretariat including the global gas model.

They also approved Peru as the new observer member of GECF.

The Ministers appointed Her Excellency Mrs. Diezani Alison Madueke, Minister of Petroleum Resources of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as President of the Ministerial Meeting, and Mr. Mohamed M. Oun, Deputy Vice Prime Minister for Energy, the State of Libya as Alternate President.

It was also decided that the 17th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF will be convened in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2015.

The Ministers expressed their appreciation to His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar. The Ministers also expressed their appreciation to His Excellency Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of the State of Qatar, and to the Government of Qatar for their hospitality and excellent arrangements made for the Meeting.