Russia, Iran and Qatar discuss OPEC-style cartel

[October 21, 2008]  TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's oil minister says the Islamic republic, Russia and Qatar discussed the formation of an OPEC-style cartel of gas exporting countries.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari says that the top three countries with natural gas reserves will "seriously pursue the formation of an organization of gas exporting countries."

Nozari spoke on state TV Tuesday after a joint meeting with his Qatari counterpart Abdulla Bin Hamad al-Attiya and the head of Russia's Gazprom Alexei Miller.

He said the three parties decided to further discuss the cartel at the next meeting of their foreign ministers.

The idea of formation of the gas cartel was first raised by Iran when then-president of Russia Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in 2007.

[Associated Press]

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