5TH SUMMIT GECF DECLARATION

GECF - 29 November 2019 Malabo, Equatorial Guinea - Declaration of Malabo: Fifth Summit of Heads of State and Government of the GECF Member Countries

We, the Heads of State and Government of Member Countries of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), at the invitation of His Excellency President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, gathered in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on November 29, 2019, for the 5th GECF Summit in the spirit of solidarity and cooperation:

Reaffirming the absolute and permanent sovereign rights of Member Countries over their natural gas resources;

Recalling the Declarations of the GECF Summits held in Doha, the State of Qatar, in 2011, Moscow, the Russian Federation, in 2013, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran, in 2015, and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Plurinational State of Bolivia, in 2017;

Acknowledging:

a. The essential role of natural gas in the attainment of UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 7, as an environmentally friendly, affordable, reliable, accessible and flexible natural resource for ensuring economic development and social progress;

b. The vital importance of natural gas and development of related infrastructure for ensuring global energy security and more sustainable and resilient energy systems;

c. The indispensable contribution of natural gas to the protection of the environment and, in particular, for mitigating and adapting to climate change;

d. The leading position of the GECF Member Countries, which have the largest share of natural gas resources in the world, in gas production and trade, and their willingness to develop these resources for the benefit of producers and consumers;

Reiterating:

a. Determination to strengthen global energy security as reliable suppliers of natural gas to meet the world’s growing energy demand;

b. The importance of fair value for natural gas in order to ensure sufficient investments through the entire gas value chain and the necessity for equitable risk sharing among all gas market stakeholders to sustain the security of demand and supply of natural gas;

c. The importance of coordination and cooperation among GECF Member Countries and fostering dialogue between gas producing and consuming countries to ensure unimpeded functioning and stability of the gas markets;

d. Willingness to further enhance the effectiveness of the GECF in promoting international cooperation aimed at the development of the gas industry;

e. The strategic role of the development, deployment and transfer of advanced technologies for more effective production and use of natural gas to enhance its economic and environmental benefits;

Expressing:

a. Deep concerns and disagreement as regards to unilateral economic restrictions undertaken without approval of the UN Security Council and extraterritorial application of national laws and regulations against GECF Member Countries that negatively affect the development and trade of natural gas;

b. Condemnation of pirate attacks and vandalic actions that disrupt operations of energy infrastructures.

Resolve our common determination to:

1. Promote natural gas as an affordable, abundant and reliable source of energy by encouraging the expansion of natural gas utilization domestically and internationally in different forms and sectors.

2. To enhance the contribution of natural gas as destination fuel for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and the protection of the environment;

3. Support the common interests of Member Countries, as stipulated in the Summit Declarations, GECF Statute and Long Term Strategy, through appropriate policies and measures to maximize the benefits of natural gas for economic development and social progress of our peoples;

4. Strengthen the GECF as an effective platform for the Member Countries to cooperate on issues related to natural gas by further developing expertise of the organization, mechanisms for sharing information, experience and best practices;

5. Encourage exchange of views and joint analysis of market conditions and prospects of natural gas through the appropriate GECF mechanisms, to promote international gas trade;

6. Support the fundamental role of long-term gas contracts as well as the gas pricing based on oil/oil products indexation, to ensure a stable investments in development of natural gas resources;

7. Enhance international positioning of the GECF by attracting new members, promoting dialogue between producers and consumers and broadening cooperation with the relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and entities;

8. Expand cooperation in the development, deployment and transfer of advanced technologies in the gas sector, upstream, midstream and downstream among Member Countries, in particular through the GECF Gas Research Institute;

9. Collaborate in the development of gas infrastructure and in the protection of critical gas facilities aimed at ensuring their safety, resilience to natural disasters, technological incidents and man-made threats, including malicious use of information and communication technologies;

10. Promote cooperation towards increased use of natural gas as an environmentally friendly fuel in the transport sector including maritime bunkering;

11. To promote the GECF cooperation with African countries to use gas as the core source of energy in their development programs and climate change policies, with the aim to overcome energy poverty, enhance development and to mitigate CO2 emissions.

The Heads of State and Government welcomed the proposals of the State of Qatar to host the 6th GECF Summit in 2021 and the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria to host the 7th GECF Summit in 2023.

The Heads of State and Government of Member Countries of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum extend appreciation to His Excellency Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the President of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for his excellent leadership of the 5th GECF Summit as well as the Government and People of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea for their hospitality and excellent arrangements for the 5th GECF Summit.

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