Iran, Russia and Qatar have agreed to increase cooperation on joint
projects - an initiative that may lead to a group resembling the oil
exporting cartel, OPEC (the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries).
Iran's Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari discussed
plans with Qatar's energy minister, Abdullah Bin Hamad al-Attiya, and
the head of Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom, Alexei Miller, Tuesday in
Tehran.
Nozari said the three countries reached a consensus to
establish a gas version of OPEC, though his counterparts did not say
they reached a firm commitment to form such a cartel.
The United
States and European nations have expressed concern about a potential
gas cartel, worrying that it could lead to price manipulation.
Analysts
say a natural gas cartel would not have the influence over gas prices
that OPEC has over oil because the markets for the two commodities are
different. Natural gas contracts tend to be very long-term, while oil
contracts are relatively shorter and more prone to price swings.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.