IT was another honour yesterday for Nigeria’s Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke as she was appointed President of the Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the first woman to be so named by the body.
The fresh appointment is coming barely three weeks after her election as the first female President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
In a statement by the Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ohi Alegbe in Abuja yesterday, said the appointment was announced yesterday in Doha, Qatar, at the ongoing 16th Ministerial Conference of the GECF.
Alegbe said Mrs. Alison-Madueke who could not attend the meeting because of her involvement in the on-going negotiations to end the oil workers’ strike was represented at the meeting by the Nigerian Ambassador to Qatar, Shuaibu Ahmed.
The GECF is an inter-governmental organisation 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), among 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 per cent of global natural gas reserves, 85 per cent of global liquefied natural gas production, and 38 per cent 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 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.
The 16th Ministerial Meeting of the GECF was convened in Doha, Qatar, and chaired by Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, minister of Energy of Qatar, and head of delegation of Nigeria, as alternate president.
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 meeting reiterated the need to monitor the challenges facing the gas industry, adding that the secretariat will continue the evaluation of developments occurring in the energy market with a focus on the supply and demand.
They acknowledged and commended the recent activities and initiatives by the secretariat including the global gas model.
The highlight of the forum was the appointment of Mrs. Alison-Madueke as president of the Ministerial Meeting, and Mr. Mohamed M. Oun, deputy vice prime minister for Energy, the state of Libya as alternate president.