Iran, Qatar and Russia, three major gas exporters, will hold a new round of talks on gas cooperation later this week in the Qatari capital of Doha, Iranian Press TV reported yesterday.

"The three countries are going to discuss (in Doha) the creation of a Supreme Technical Committee," the report quoted RezaKasaeizadeh, managing director of National Iranian Gas Export Company, as saying.

The Iranian delegation is scheduled to participate in the talks on Wednesday, Kasaeizadeh added.

In October, the senior energy officials of Iran, Russia and Qatar held their first tripartite meeting for gas cooperation in Tehran.

According to IRNA news agency, the three counties discussed in their first meeting the ways to expand the gas fields, to carry out strategic cooperation among three countries in regional and international gas markets and "assist each other in the target markets in light of geopolitical and geographical considerations."

The three countries account for 56 percent of world's natural gas reserves with Russia 26 percent, Iran 16 percent and Qatar 14 percent. Both Russia and Qatar are major gas exporters, but Iran is a net importer despite its huge reserves.

Iran wants to turn into a major player in the gas market and proposes to develop a formal organization akin to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

However, European countries and the United States warned against such a gas export body, saying it could pose a danger to global energy security and create room for price manipulation.