Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking part in the Eighth Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) summit in Moscow. The Kremlin has said leaders will discuss the role of gas in global energy security and adopt a final declaration.
Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has travelled to Moscow to attend and to meet Putin. Azerbaijan, an observer, is among the countries expected to address the forum.
The GECF is an international group of leading natural gas-producing countries, which was established in 2001 in the Iranian capital Tehran. It became a full organisation in 2008, when its statute was signed in Moscow and a permanent office was set up in the Qatari capital Doha. Its stated aim is to support its members’ sovereign rights over their gas resources.
The organisation has 12 full member countries and eight observer countries. The full members are Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.
Observer countries are Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mozambique, Peru and Senegal.
The European Commission says Russian gas imports into the European Union (EU) fell from 152 billion cubic metres (bcm) in 2021 to 36 bcm in 2025. The pipeline routes have mostly closed. The Nord Stream pipelines were blown up in 2022 and the Yamal-Europe route also shut due to a dispute between Poland and Russia.
Transit through Ukraine stopped on 1 January 2025 when the deal expired. Reuters calculated that Russia’s pipeline exports to Europe fell 44 per cent in 2025, to their lowest level since the mid-1970s. TurkStream, a gas pipeline running from Russia to Türkiye, is now the only direct, operational pipeline supplying Russian natural gas to Europe. According to global gas industry spokesperson, the International Gas Union, Norway overtook Russia as the world’s biggest pipeline gas exporter in 2025.
Iran has the world’s second-largest gas reserves after Russia, but U.S. sanctions have slowed the development of its exports. The U.S.-Iran war which began in February has also upended the gas market.
Iranian attacks have damaged gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf. A strike on Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex in March badly damaged two production lines, taking out about 17 per cent of Qatar’s liquified natural gas (LNG) export capacity. Qatar’s shipments have since collapsed because it cannot export through the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.
Around a fifth of the world’s LNG exports normally passes through the strait. A ceasefire was agreed on 8 April, and European gas prices fell 18 per cent on the news. However, transit through the sea passage is still disrupted. Qatar and Iran are both GECF members, so the two sides of this dispute sit in the same forum.
As an observer country, Azerbaijan does not have a vote at the GECF. Baku’s Energy Minister Parviz Shahbazov made the case for gas at the forum’s ministerial meeting on Monday. He spoke about challenges in the global gas market, the role of gas in energy security, investment needs and Azerbaijan’s gas policy.
“Investment decisions must be made today to ensure reliable gas supplies tomorrow,” Shahbazov said.
The Minister added that geopolitical tensions, security risks along supply routes and shifting energy policy are adding to uncertainty. He called the Southern Gas Corridor, a project which transports natural gas from Azerbaijan directly to European markets, a successful model of cooperation.
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