Sharjah24 – AFP: Energy ministers attend the opening session of the 24th ministerial meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), in the Egyptian capital Cairo. GECF Secretary General Mohamed Hamel highlighted the importance of constructive dialogue and joint cooperation to face the multiple challenges facing the world, especially in the energy crisis and the rapid changes in energy markets.

Commenting on this, Tarek el-Molla, Egyptian Minister of Petroleum pointed out, "The purpose of establishing the forum is not to creat a kind of lobby to increase the prices at all, but as I said, it is to provide the required fuel which is natural gas on demand at the right time, and markets to achieve balance between production and consumption."

The Egyptian Minister of Petroleum added, "The high price crisis today is a result of the 2015 pressures (which considered) that natural gas was not the ideal fuel, that it was one of the causes of emissions, and that it was having an effect on global warming. Those pressures increased in Glasgow last year (during the COP26). So, these pressures have had a huge impact on our investment in this field."

Mohamed Hamel, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) stated, "Of course, this year, geopolitical tensions have exacerbated this market tightness and in addition, given that natural gas project, as you know, is capital intensive with long lead times and payback period. Although investments are coming back, we believe that this market tightness will continue to be with us until probably 2025 or 2026."