Putin called gas exporters for single price system

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on gas exporting countries to come up with a single pricing mechanism and resist EU market rules as he hosted Monday a summit with leaders from some of the world's top energy states.
 
Putin received the likes of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Iran's outgoing leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum at the Kremlin's gilded halls.
 
The occasional series of GECF meetings are designed to group the natural gas producers into a tight-knit community of nations resembling the OPEC oil cartel.
 
But important differences in how the two hydrocarbons are supplied to global clients and the more regional nature of gas distribution have kept the GECF countries from building particularly strong bonds.
 
Putin said it was time for a fresh approach.
 
"Our priority is to provide stable deliveries to global markets in the long-term perspective," Putin told the other leaders.He said it was imperative for the countries to defend the practice of tying gas prices to those of oil and fighting the more temperamental nature of the spot market.
 
He also defended long-term contracts that bind clients to purchase gas within a specific price range for a number of decades and which Russia has recently been forced to abandon under pressure from some European states.


/HurriyetDailynews.Com/