Russia, Iran and Qatar to form an organization of gas-exporting countries similar to OPEC

Press TV reports:

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, has defended the formation of an organization of gas-exporting countries similar to OPEC.

Iranian Oil Minister Gholam-Hossein Nozari, his Qatari counterpart Abdulla Bin Hamad al-Attiya and the head of Russia's Gazprom, Alexei Miller, had a Tuesday meeting in Tehran in which the three countries vowed to seriously pursue the formation of an OPEC-like gas group.

Lavrov told journalists on Wednesday that the expansion of natural gas cooperation between Doha, Moscow and Tehran was a 'healthy phenomenon'.

He added that the current fluctuations in oil prices were a negative factor which would affect gas prices as well.

Gazprom's chief executive officer, Miller, said on Tuesday that the three countries would also create a technical committee to implement joint projects.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin said on Wednesday that the country might create an oil reserve to ' work more efficiently with prices on the market'.