Barely three weeks after her election as the first female President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the Minister of 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.
The appointment was announced earlier today 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.
