Suppose they gave a Forum and nobody could really decide anything? That's what seems to have happened at GECF :
The club of major gas producers fretted over sagging demand and prices at talks today, but the loose grouping is far from having the power and collective will to do anything to tighten the market.
Facing the first fall in global gas demand for more than half a century, US self-sufficiency, and a big surge in production over the next few years, the club agreed on the need to improve cooperation to stabilise the market some day.
"We have a challenge now. We never had a challenge before. We could sell the gas," Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil said at the meeting in Qatar.
One challenge they passed on was even deciding on a chairperson. But at least they are understanding the sweeping changes they face. Algeria can at least define the problem:
Gas exporters already reeling from a fall in demand for gas in Europe and parts of Asia because of the recession also discussed a sudden loss of appetite in the United States for imported gas because of its growing ability to meet its own needs.
"It might come back in 10-15 years but that's not part of the global market any more," Khelil said.
Let no one underestimate how important that statement is: The US is not part of the global market anymore. Which means basically that even if there isn't so much as a molecule of gas produced from a shale play anywhere else in the planet, simply subtracting the US market means a further collapse in gas prices here in Europe.
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