Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, yesterday added another industry leadership cap when the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) appointed her President, making her the first female leader of the group.
The new appointment which was the main outcome of the ongoing 16th Ministerial Conference of the GECF in Doha, Qatar, comes barely three weeks after her election as the first female President of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Mrs. Alison-Madueke who could not attend the meeting because of her involvement in the ongoing negotiations to end the oil workers’ strike was represented at the meeting by the Nigerian Ambassador to Qatar, His Excellency Shuaibu A. Ahmed.
The GECF, also called Gas OPEC because of their similar objectives of promoting revenue optimization from petroleum resource exports, is an inter-governmental organization established in Tehran, Iran, in 2001, to serve as a platform to promote the exchange of experience, views, information and coordination in global gas exploration and production trends.
The group also works to maintain healthy balance of demand and supply in the global market space to support global economic growth while seeking fair and proportionate returns for investors and resource owners.
GECF also promotes worldwide gas exploration, production and transportation technologies; the structure and development of regional and global gas markets amongst other common issues that pertain to the exploration, production and trade in natural gas.
The Forum is made up of 12 of the world’s leading producers of natural gas. It controls over 70% of global natural gas reserves, 85% of global liquefied natural gas production, and 38% of global pipeline trade of the product.
Members include Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya and Nigeria. Others are: Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Other countries that enjoy observer-member status of the forum include Kazakhstan, Iraq, the Netherlands, Norway and Oman.
The GECF session where Mrs Alison-Madueke was appointed as President was attended by ministers from Algeria, Iran, Libya, Qatar, Russia, UAE, as well as heads of delegations from Bolivia, Equatorial Guinea, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago Venezuela, Netherlands, Norway and Oman.
The UNION reports that Mrs. Alison-Madueke has mustered lofty reputation for breaking new grounds and pushing back frontiers for female petroleum industry professionals as well as expanding Nigeria’s influence in the global petroleum industry arena.
She is the first female Nigerian to rise to the post of Director in Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Nigeria Limited, Nigeria’s leading oil and gas exploration and production joint venture operator.
She is also Nigeria’s first female Mister of Petroleum Resources; the first female minister to consecutively serve in three different ministries successfully; the first female President of Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC); and now the first President of GECF also called Gas-OPEC.
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