The Gas Forum meeting kicked off today in Doha amid fears of disruption to energy supplies in Europe

Amid the escalation of the Ukraine crisis, which threatens energy supplies, the activities of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum will kick off in Doha, Qatar, today 20, in preparation for the sixth Forum summit scheduled to be held in Europe on 22.

Chaired by the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the forum is holding its sixth summit, which will be attended by multinational leaders and oil and gas ministers from member states. The organization's members hold more than 70 percent of the world's natural gas reserves.

The Natural Gas Exporting Countries Forum comes as the United States accuses Russia of preparing a military invasion of neighboring Ukraine, which has caused gas prices to rise, and as Europe seeks to diversify its gas supply sources to reduce its dependence on Moscow.

Energy supply

The Doha Summit is a meeting of the Heads of State and Government of the member States of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum to interact, exchange experiences, views and information and coordinate on gas-related matters, as well as to discuss how to enhance energy supply security in view of the development of the global energy sector and the growing interest in the use of clean energy sources.

The Forum, established in 2001 to protect and defend the interests of gas exporting countries, is headquartered in Doha and includes Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela, in addition to the headquarters country Qatar.

It also includes seven member states as observers: Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway, Peru and the United Arab Emirates. The total share of the member countries accounts for more than 70% of the world's gas reserves.

Abundant production

The forum said on its website that its members provide 44 percent of market production, own 52 percent of the world's pipelines and 51 percent of LNG exports.

Of the 18 member states and observers in the top 10, there are four Arab states: Qatar, Algeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

Russia takes the lead

Russia leads the member countries with 638 billion cubic meters of annual production, accounting for 16.57 percent of the global total in 2021, followed by Iran with 249.6 billion cubic meters, accounting for 6.48 percent, and Qatar with 20.57 billion cubic meters, accounting for 5.34 percent.

In January, the International Gas Union's annual Global LNG report said Qatar would lead the world in terms of production and exports by 2026.

According to the International Alliance, production from Qatar's northern gas field project will gradually increase annual LNG exports from the current 77 million tons to 110 million tons by 2025 and 126 million tons by the end of 2027.

The World Gas Exporting Countries Forum report estimated the construction cost of the production line for the northern field expansion project at about $28.75 billion, with some of the cost to be paid through self-financing, and Qatar Energy issued bonds worth up to $12.5 billion.