By Jonathan Eyal

A MEETING of energy bosses from Iran, Russia and Qatar earlier this week has alarmed Western observers, who fear that the countries are planning to establish a new organisation of gas-producing nations, similar to Opec which controls oil supplies.

Officially, Iranian Oil Minister Gholamhossein Nozari invited Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Hamad Al-Attiyah and MrAlexei Miller, the boss of Gazprom - Russia's energy giant - just for 'informal talks' on Monday.

But a European ambassador in the Qatari capital told The Straits Times there was little doubt about what was at stake: 'They are planning to fix gas production at our expense', he warned.

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