Iran Press/ Iran News: Javad Owji, Iranian Minister of Petroleum at the 23rd Ministerial Meeting of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), which was held virtually on Tuesday, condemned US sanctions on Iran as a threat to global law and multilateralism.
Here are the excerpts of the Iranian oil Minister:
In the past two years, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economy and consequently the gas market have suffered significant damage, the effects of which will cause fundamental changes and transformations in the world's energy production and consumption paradigms, even in the medium term.
However, I would like to point out that natural gas compared with other energy carriers, has been more stable and resistant to the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis.
Despite all the difficulties in the past two years, the GECF member countries have managed the challenges and uncertainties in the gas market by adhering to the principles and goals set out in the Statute of the Forum.
The 2020 crisis has taught many lessons to oil and gas market players. Chief among them is the necessity of paying more attention to the role and importance of multilateral international cooperation in various fields to combat common global crises.
GECF is a good platform for expanding such relations and cooperation, which could allow for holding purposeful and specialized talks on gas issues with countries and international energy institutions and organizations. In the framework of these talks, GECF will pursue one of its primary goals, i.e., improving the natural gas security of demand in the long term.
Natural gas plays an essential and critical role in moving toward a low carbon sustainable energy system in the transition period, and due to its environmental and economic advantage, even with the growth of renewables, it could be part of the global green energy strategy to counter the impacts of climate change to promote sustainable energy supply.
The low pollution level of natural gas has made it the cleanest fossil fuel that can meet the needs of the 21st century by replacing it with more polluting fuels such as coal. Unlike renewable energies, it has various advantages: daily production persistency, sustainability, and availability.
On the other hand, energy systems flexibility in countries is one of the requirements of promoting global energy security. In this regard, natural gas could be one of the significant components of the poverty eradication chain, particularly in South Asia and South African Sahara.
Natural gas abundant resources in the Islamic Republic of Iran and other parts of the world make this clean and affordable energy accessible to everyone so that they can achieve the 7th SDG approved by the UN.
Due to the lower carbon content of natural gas compared with other fossil fuels, while paving the ground for developing countries to move toward Net Zero Emissions (NZE) and sustainable development, natural gas, through technology transfer, would help exporting countries mitigate carbon emissions and export low carbon fuel.
I want to stress that the global community should pay attention to common but differentiated responsibilities (CBDR) of developed countries toward developing countries and provide them with good opportunities to go through the energy transition period.
Technology transfer is a 50-year promise that faces numerous hardships, and developing countries, mainly gas exporting countries, need such technologies. The emergence of new policies to zero carbon emissions has necessitated reducing the carbon volume produced in natural gas production. In the long term, the possibility of using new technologies such as CCUS and Blue Hydrogen and Methane leakage should be considered by developed countries.
Otherwise, the attractive speeches of the leaders participating in COP26 in support of the Paris Agreement and the fight against climate change will be merely considered speeches.
Natural gas security of demand is among important parameters ensuring adequate investment and natural gas production capacity in the long term.
In this regard, constructive dialogue and cooperation with all the concerned parties, including producers and consumers, could guarantee natural gas security on the supply and demand sides, which would favor the two concerned parties.
Understanding producer's and consumers' issue is essential for strengthening sustainable conditions of energy supply and demand. Hence, I believe promoting cooperation among GECF member countries in various fields: technology, development, and gas market stability are essential more than ever.
Natural gas and LNG price unprecedented, significant, and abrupt hike in Europe, Asia, and America indicates developed countries' vulnerability vis-a-vis unforeseen volatility in energy development. These developments show the necessity of further promoting the level of cooperation and depoliticizing the energy production process in the world.
We believe that the world's stability and sustainability of energy security require adopting depoliticized approaches in the energy markets. That is to say, to overcome challenges of the world energy security, rather than adopting political methods and imposing unilateral sanctions, a substantial strategy is required to restore economic logic and multilateralism.
The imposition of unilateral sanctions by the US on the Islamic Republic of Iran will damage global law and multilateralism while targeting people's livelihood and is in contradiction with principles and regulations of international law.
This approach cannot ensure peace and international security. It would not effectively deal with issues such as climate change, investment, technology transfer in the energy field, particularly natural gas.
I am confident you all agree with me that achieving the elevated goals behind the establishment of GECF requires further cooperation and coordination among the members. Holding one of the largest natural gas reservoirs and one of the world's largest distribution networks of natural gas, the Islamic Republic of Iran expresses its readiness to pioneer cooperation in all the relevant fields.
The Islamic Republic of Iran warmly welcomes any collective or bilateral cooperation with gas-producing countries. As minister of petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I would make efforts to secure gas exporting countries' interests and support natural gas market stability.
I am confident that promoting cooperation and collaboration among the GECF member countries would enable us to cope with climate change challenges and bring about a bright future for the GECF member countries.
As in the past, the administration of HE Dr. Raeisi, the esteemed president of I.R. Iran, will keep interacting constructively with the Forum and will effectively support its objectives in line with securing the member countries' collective interests.
I want to conclude by expressing my sincere appreciation to the esteemed Secretary-General and the GECF Secretariat staff for their round-the-clock efforts. Once again, I would like to express my gratitude to the honorable minister of hydrocarbons and energy of Bolivia for the excellent arrangement of the Ministerial Meeting.
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