Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (L) shakes hands with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani after a joint press conference in Doha, Qatar, on March 4, 2019. The two foreign ministers on Monday discussed the latest developments in Syria and Libya. (Xinhua/Nikku)
MOSCOW, March 4 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Qatar, as major natural gas producers, have agreed to coordinate their policies in the energy sector, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.
"We agreed to continue coordinating steps in the global energy market, including within the Doha Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF)," Lavrov said at a press conference in Doha after talks with Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.
The press conference was broadcast live on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.
The GECF is an international governmental organization uniting 12 major natural gas producers, including Qatar and Russia.
Qatar holds proven natural gas reserves of some 25 trillion cubic meters, the third largest after Russia and Iran, and it's also the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to the GECF.
The Arab country also has oil resources. It holds proven crude oil reserves of about 25 billion barrels, compared to some 60 billion barrels in Russia, according to the GECF.
At the press conference, Lavrov said he drew Al-Thani's attention to the interest of Russian oil and gas companies, including Lukoil, Zarubezhneft, Gazprom and Novatek, to develop mutually beneficial projects with Qatari partners.
Lavrov and Al-Thani also gave a positive assessment of the interaction between the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), as well as the latter's participation in the Russian oil giant Rosneft, Lavrov said.
In 2016, the state-owned Qatari sovereign wealth fund QIA jointly acquired with Swiss trader Glencore a 19.5 percent stake in Rosneft.
