The decision was made during the Extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the 7th GECF Summit attended by Iran’s Oil Minister Javad Owji in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, on Friday, and Tehran will be host to the 26th GECF Ministerial Meeting in late 2024.

Iran will also host the 8th Gas Exporting Countries Forum Summit of Heads of State and Government in 2027.

Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, hosted the 25th GECF Ministerial Meeting on October 10, 2023.

The 7th Gas Exporting Countries Forum Summit of Heads of State and Government will be held in Algiers on Saturday.

Heading a high-ranking economic and political delegation, Iran’s President Seyyed Ebrahim Raeisi will leave Tehran for Algiers on Saturday to attend the summit at the official invitation of his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

Raeisi will deliver a speech at the summit to raise Iran’s stances on strategies and policies of GECF for safeguarding its member states’ interests, promoting their cooperation on the natural gas industry’s development and its role in providing energy security, and investing more in the sector.

Raeisi’s trip to Algeria is the first visit by an Iranian president to the North African country in about 14 years.

The GECF Summit is held every two years. Doha, the capital of Qatar, hosted the 1st GECF Summit in 2011; Moscow, the capital of Russia, held the 2nd edition in 2013; Tehran, the capital of Iran, was host to the 3rd summit in 2015; Santa Cruz, Bolivia, was the venue of the 4th summit in 2017; Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, held the 5th summit in 2019; and Doha hosted the 6th edition in 2022.

Based on an initial proposal made by Iran, the Gas Exporting Countries Forum was established by Iran, Russia, Qatar, and other gas exporting states on December 23, 2008.

Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the UAE, and Venezuela are the GECF members and Angola, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mozambique, and Peru hold the status of observers.

With its current number of member states, the GECF enjoys a dominant position on global energy markets and among international energy organizations. Together, they represent 69% of the world’s gas reserves, 39% of the marketed production, and 40% of global gas exports. Moreover, GECF member countries collectively account for more than half of the world liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports (51%).