The GECF’s member countries combined control over 70% of the world’s natural gas reserves, 38% of pipeline trade, and 85% of liquefied natural gas production.
At the summit, Maduro proposed the creation of a financial fund or a bank between the gas exporting countries. He argued that the proposal wasn’t just “about building a gas bank, but rather so that our public companies and the most powerful companies of our countries can join together to increase the investments in projects that each country is carrying out”.
He argued that one of the main aims of the summit should be joint work, including exchange of experiences and policies that favour better management of gas. For that, he proposed creating a research institute between the member countries.
Maduro announced that “in approximately one year” Venezuela could be “certified as [having] the fifth [largest] gas reserve in the world”.
In 2009 the Venezuelan government estimated that there are 200 million cubic feet of natural gas along the Venezuelan coastline. Natural gas is heavily subsidised in Venezuela, and while the government has been developing projects to introduce gas run cars, they have yet to be implemented on a mass scale.
The Moscow Declaration coming out of yesterday’s summit, titled “Natural Gas: The answer to the 21st century sustainable development challenges”, declared the forum’s “determination” to strengthen the GECF as a platform for advancing member countries’ position on international gas market issues.
The declaration also wants countries to enhance coordination to protect each other in all areas, including interactions with regulatory authorities of gas consuming countries. Member countries pledged to continue to support gas pricing based on oil products indexation, and to promote the expansion of natural gas utilisation in different forms, including motor fuel and feedstock.