Gas producers club no supply threat

LONDON (Reuters) – A new three-nation club sitting on over half the world’s gas is unlikely to dictate prices and could even improve supply security, analysts and industry executives say.

Russia, Iran and Qatar’s agreement on Tuesday to meet regularly to discuss how to exploit their huge reserves revived concern that the big gas powers may try to control supplies like OPEC wrestles with the oil market.

But analysts say the “big gas troika” is unlikely to lead to supply controls, even as more producers sign up, as all have diverse objectives and gas is harder to commoditize than oil.

“It’s very hard to see anything concrete come out of this. The actors have too divergent interests to get anywhere right now,” Samuel Ciszuk, Middle East analyst at Global Insight in London said.

Reuters