Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela are the main 12 GECF members, along with Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Norway, Oman and Peru which are observer members of the forum.

The GECF countries account for 44% of the world's gas production, 67% of the world's gas reserves, 64% of the share of gas pipeline and 66% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) trade in the world.

19 members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum will gather in Moscow on Thursday (October 3) while the third Russian Energy Week will be held from Wednesday (October 2) through Saturday (October 5) in the Central Exhibition Hall of Moscow.

The purpose of the forum is to showcase the prospects for Russia's fuel and energy industry and to build capacity for international cooperation in the energy field.

The Russian Energy Week also provides the ground for discussing the main energy sector challenges and development problems in various sectors, including gas, oil, coal, petrochemicals, electricity and energy conservation and increasing productivity.