TEHRAN – The 28th ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) opened in Moscow on Monday, bringing together representatives of member states to discuss gas market developments, energy security and ways to strengthen cooperation.
The meeting is being held a day before the forum’s eighth leaders’ summit, scheduled for Tuesday, with President Masoud Pezeshkian attending on behalf of Iran.
Hamid Bovard, Iran’s acting oil minister, traveled to Moscow to participate in the ministerial meeting and accompany Pezeshkian at the summit.
Iran is also seeking to advance bilateral energy cooperation with Russia during the meetings. Bovard said the two countries had reached agreement on the general terms of a natural gas swap deal, with technical arrangements for implementation now nearing completion.
The agreement was discussed at a previous meeting between the Iranian and Russian presidents in Turkmenistan, Bovard said. He added that a pipeline project Russia is pursuing through Azerbaijan could enable gas exchanges between the two countries in the near future.
Cooperation in the oil sector is also continuing, with Russian companies involved in the development of four major Iranian oilfields. Bovard said the projects had made satisfactory progress and that discussions on advancing the contracts would continue during his visit.
Iran plans to use the GECF meetings to discuss production plans, expand cooperation with member states, particularly in the gas sector, and address international developments and damage to its energy infrastructure, Bovard said.
Ahead of the ministerial meeting and summit, the GECF executive board held an extraordinary session in Moscow on Sunday, chaired by Seyed Ali-Mohammad Mousavi, Iran’s deputy oil minister for international affairs and trade. The session focused on coordinating the two gatherings and finalizing key documents, including the summit’s closing declaration.
During his visit, Bovard also toured the monitoring center of Russian oil company Zarubezhneft and was briefed on its operations and technical capabilities.
He welcomed the participation of Russian companies in Iranian oil industry development projects, saying Iran’s national oil and gas companies had also established a similar monitoring center to oversee operations across the country.
Zarubezhneft Chief Executive Sergei Kudryashov said the center consolidates data from the company’s onshore and offshore operations, allowing production volumes and other operational parameters at individual wells to be monitored.
The GECF has 12 full members, including Iran and Russia, and represents countries that hold about 70 percent of the world’s proven natural gas reserves, account for 38 percent of global marketed gas production and supply 42 percent of global gas exports. Member countries also account for an estimated 47 percent of global liquefied natural gas exports.
The forum holds its leaders’ summit every two years. Previous meetings have been hosted by Doha, Moscow, Tehran, Santa Cruz in Bolivia, Malabo in Equatorial Guinea and Algiers, which hosted the seventh summit in 2024.
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