Gas producing nations want tighter cooperation, but their interests are too diverse and the market too fragmented to form a cartel, energy ministers said ahead of the first meeting of its kind in two years.
Speculation the Gas Exporting Countries Forum is about to establish the gas equivalent of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has been repeatedly knocked down since Iran's supreme leader rekindled the controversy in January.
Even the suggestion of such a grouping has alarmed European countries. Their dependence on leading gas exporter Russia and vulnerability to export disruptions was underlined last year when supplies were cut during one of the coldest winters on record, as Moscow disputed prices with Ukraine.
Ahead of Monday's ministerial session in Doha, Qatar, energy ministers said they had no plans to fix prices at consumers' expense.
"We do not, and will not, set ourselves the goal of ganging up on anybody. It would be destructive and it would make no sense at all," said Viktor Khristenko, energy minister of Russia.
"We view this meeting as another step towards creating an effective energy dialogue to reduce the risks in relations between consumers and suppliers. We want this organisation to form part of the global energy dialogue," he said in Moscow, before leaving for Doha.
The forum was formed in 2001 and is responsible for around 60 percent of world gas exports, but has been viewed by analysts as a talking shop.
IMPRACTICAL:
Other ministers said the possibility of the group becoming an OPEC was impractical as gas producing nations each look to supply different regions of the world and set prices for long-term contracts on the basis of oil.
"How could we do that?" Algerian Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil said, when asked about pricing gas independently to make it a globally-traded commodity like oil.
"All the (gas) contracts are tied to oil prices. Maybe in the long term there will be changes because we have a market that will be more liquid... Right now it's linked."
Analysts view the advent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a step towards creating a liquid, global gas market. LNG is gas cooled to liquid form so it can be shipped to various markets and is far more flexible than pipeline gas, which is supplied to long-term customers.
Speaking of the gas forum, Khelil said it was business as usual.
"We will continue to work together, doing what we have been doing up to now ... We always talk about cooperation, developing synergies, optimising transport."
Indonesia's Purnomo Yusgiantoro also sought to pool knowledge. "How we can benefit from this meeting is to gain upstream and downstream experience from other countries," he said. "We're expecting to gain experience from other countries on how different gas markets have developed around the globe."
The requirements for establishing a gas OPEC were not yet in place, he said.
"Gas is not like oil. Gas is different in the sense that the market is usually regional," he said, but added the idea would be discussed even though it was not formally on the agenda.
"We'll have to scrutinise this idea. For an organisation like that you have to have a common objective between members. Do we have that? Do we have a basic common objective?"
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