The annual Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Doha, Qatar, on April 9 could seriously damage Russian-U.S. relations. The U.S. House of Representatives asked State Secretary Condoleezza Rice to inform the Russian government that Congress views its involvement in a gas analog of OPEC as unfriendly towards the United States and the future cartel itself as a global organization for extortion and racketeering.
Experts say that no important documents will be signed at the Doha meeting. But its participants are not hiding their plans to discuss the possibility of a gas OPEC. There is already a list of countries willing to consider membership in the cartel. Apart from Iran and Russia, it includes Algeria, Venezuela, Qatar, Trinidad and Tobago, Nigeria, Oman, the UAE, Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen proposed taking tough measures to stop gas exporting countries uniting. A way to influence Russia could be Washington's refusal to support Moscow's program to enter the global market of nuclear technology, she said.
In order to solve the problem of diversifying energy sources and ending Europe's dependence on gas supplies from Russia and its CIS allies, Ros-Lehtinen proposed paying greater attention and providing support to plans by some Central Asian states to build new gas pipelines and infrastructure (the letter mentions Turkmenistan and the pipeline across the Caspian Sea).
Kommersant's source in the U.S. authorities yesterday confirmed that the State Department was worried about the possible emergence of a gas OPEC, despite doubts that it might happen in the near future.
Even Russian experts say that this is not possible. "The gas cartel will not be able to exist in the form of OPEC," said Maxim Shein, head of analysis with Broker Credit Service. "Although oil and gas are both hydrocarbons, both businesses are different."
Valery Nesterov of the Troika Dialog brokerage said that a global gas market had to emerge for the cartel to be setup. This, however, is unlikely until the share of liquefied gas and spot transactions has increased.
Russian News and Information Agency
