The National Iranian Oil Co.'s managing director said Saturday that Russia is interested in swapping natural gas with Iran, adding that the Islamic republic recently discussed gas swaps with Russian energy giant OAO Gazprom (GAZP.RS), the Oil Ministry's official Shana news Web site reported.
Seifollah Jashnsaz said that with the increase in global natural gas demand, it is necessary for Russia, Iran and Qatar, which harbor 27%, 16% and 14%, respectively, of the world's natural gas reserves, to recognize common assets and issues in the natural gas sector, according to Shana.
Jashnsaz said that doing this will help prevent any losses on the part of consuming and producing countries, Shana reported.
Iran, Qatar and Russia agreed in late October, after a trilateral meeting in Tehran, to form an OPEC-style organization for gas-exporting countries.
Gas producers such as Russia, Iran, Qatar and Venezuela have been talking for some time about a "gas OPEC," mirroring the 13-member Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which meets more than 40% of the world's crude oil demand.