TEHRAN Nov. 23 (Shana) – Iranian Minister of Petroleum Bijan Zangeneh said it is about time the Tehran-Moscow talks were put into action as the two countries have held talks in many areas so far.
Prior to a meeting with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak in Tehran in the run-up to the 3rd Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Summit, Zangeneh said the summit meeting is an opportunity for Iranian officials to hold talks with their Russian counterparts.
"Russia is considered as a long-term and strategic partner for Iran in all eras," said the Iranian official, expressing hope that long-term and stable energy ties between the two countries will take shape by cooperation of the two sides in the post-sanctions setting.

"There are many areas for cooperation between the two countries and it is about time previous talks [between them] were seen in action," he said, underlining Iran's ongoing ties with Russian energy firms.
For his part, Novak expressed happiness to meet with Iranian petroleum minister prior to the GECF summit.

Secretary General of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Abadallah El-Badri and Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) Aldo Flores-Quiroga are in Tehran to take part in the Third Summit Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) on Monday.
Previous GECF gas summits were held in Qatar in 2011 and in Moscow in 2013. In the run-up to the summit, the ministerial and expert-level meetings were held on Saturday and in the last two days in Tehran preparing the documents for the approval of the forum’s leaders, according to the Ministry of Petroleum.

GECF is the intergovernmental forum of the world’s leading gas producers that provides a framework for exchange of experience, views, information and data, as well as coordination in gas related developments among member countries.
It consists of 19 main and observer members with its permanent secretariat based in Doha, Qatar.

Russia, Iran, Qatar, Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Libya, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, and the United Arab Emirates, are main members of the gas exporting body. Observer countries are the Netherlands, Iraq, Oman, Azerbaijan, Peru, Kazakhstan and Norway.
GECF members account for 42 percent of global gas output, 70 percent of global gas reserves, 40 percent of pipe gas transmission, and 65 percent of global trade of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

By SHANA