Iran and Algeria are expected to discuss the formation of an OPEC-style gas group during a visit by Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to Tehran, Iran's ambassador to Algeria said in remarks published on Sunday. The two energy producers would also discuss broadening economic cooperation, Iran's Ambassador to Algeria Hussein Abdi Abyanah was quoted as saying by state-run newspaper Iran. Bouteflika and five government ministers were due to arrive in the capital of the world's fourth-largest oil producer on Sunday for a three-day visit. It was unclear if Algeria's Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil, also president of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), would accompany Bouteflika on the visit. Iran wants to turn the previously toothless Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) into a more formal organization akin to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the 13-member grouping which makes output decisions that can sway global oil prices. Bouteflika backed the idea in a newspaper interview last year. The United States and Europe have warned against such a grouping, saying it could pose a danger to global energy security and create room for price manipulation. Algeria and Iran are both members of OPEC and the GECF. Russia will hold a ministerial meeting in November to discuss a charter for the forum, until now seen as a talking shop for gas producing nations. Algeria is a major gas exporter to Europe. Iran is the world's fourth-largest gas producer but consumes almost all of its production. It exports a fraction of its output to Turkey, but also imports from Turkmenistan. Iran's President Ahmadimejad visited Algeria last year and called for increased investment and trade links in gas, petrochemicals and the car industry. Two-way trade between the two countries is small. Risk of new price rises World oil prices, which have plunged from recent record heights, could spike higher again should the market be rocked by new supply-side shocks, according to industry experts. Prices sank lower last week on mounting concern that slower economic growth in the United States would translate into lower global energy demand. The price of crude oil on international markets has shed about 20 percent in value since hitting record highs above $147 per barrel in July. Standard Chartered analyst Helen Henton said investors could send oil surging higher once more amid volatile trading conditions – and ongoing supply threats such as the Iranian nuclear energy crisis. “Overall, the picture is one of a still tight market with growing demand, vulnerable to supply risks,” Henton said. She added: “Upside risks remain. We... expect prices to range in a $110-$130 band for the next 18 months, while not ruling out investor-driven price spikes.” Meanwhile, a bullish report has predicted that oil could strike $200 per barrel within ten years owing to tightening supplies and a lack of investment in new production. Prices could surge past 200 dollars because of an impending global supply crunch, the Chatham House foreign affairs think tank said. “The world will experience a serious oil supply crunch within five to ten years unless there is a collapse in oil demand,” Chatham House said in a gloomy report entitled “The Coming Oil Supply Crunch.” It added: “Given recent price experience, a spike in excess of 200 dollars per barrel is not infeasible.” However, other oil industry experts remain unconvinced about a return to record-breaking price levels. Julian Jessop, at Capital Economics, believes the world will now face a sustained period of lower prices for oil and other commodities amid slowing economic growth in Western economies. “We think that the recent sharp falls in commodity prices are more than just a temporary dip in an upward trend,” Jessop said. “Commodity prices are now much higher and affordability more stretched than they were a year ago, implying greater scope for further falls.”
