DOHA - The activities of the Gas Forum will be

launched in the Qatari capital, Doha, on Sunday, in preparation for the launch of the sixth summit of the forum, scheduled for next Tuesday, amid the escalation of the Ukrainian crisis that threatens energy supplies to Europe.

The forum - in which member states own more than 70% of the world's reserves - is holding its sixth summit under the patronage of the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and includes the high participation of a number of state leaders and oil and gas ministers in the member states.

The Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) comes at a time when the United States accuses Russia of preparing a military invasion of its neighbor Ukraine, which contributed to the rise in gas prices, as well as the direction of European attention to the need to seek to diversify its sources of gas supplies to reduce its dependence on Moscow.

Russia is the largest gas exporter to Europe (Reuters)

Power supply

The Doha Summit is a meeting of heads of state and government of the member states of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which provides an opportunity for interaction, exchange of experiences, opinions, information and coordination on gas-related matters, and to discuss how to enhance the security of energy supplies in light of developments in the global energy sector and the growing interest in using clean energy.

The forum, which aims to protect and defend the interests of natural gas exporting countries, was established in 2001 and is headquartered in Doha. In addition to the headquarters country, it includes Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela.

It also includes 7 member states as observers: Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Norway, Peru, and the United Arab Emirates.

The full share of the member states amounts to more than 70% of the world's natural gas reserves.

abundant production

On its website, the forum says its members provide 44% of marketed production, account for 52% of pipelines, and 51% of liquefied natural gas exports worldwide.

In the list of the first ten out of the total of 18 permanent members and observers, there are 4 Arab countries: Qatar, Algeria, Egypt, and the UAE.

The State of Qatar is working on a project to expand the North Field (Al-Jazeera)

Russia leads

Russia leads the member states in terms of production volume with a total of 638 billion cubic meters annually, which constitutes 16.57% of the total global production in 2021, followed by Iran with production of 249.6 billion cubic meters, or 6.48%, and Qatar 205.7 billion, or 5.34%.

And last January, the annual global LNG report issued by the International Gas Union said that Qatar will top the list of gas producers globally by 2026, in production and exports.

According to the International Federation, the production of the Qatari North Gas Field project will begin to gradually increase annual exports of liquefied natural gas from 77 million metric tons currently to 110 million by 2025, and then reach 126 million by the end of 2027.

It is estimated, according to a report by the World Gas Forum, that the cost of building production trains in the North Field expansion is about $28.75 billion, and part of the costs will be covered through self-financing, as Qatar Energy Company issued multi-tranche bonds worth $12.5 billion.