Russia`s government said on Friday it would host a meeting of leading gas exporters on December 23 in Moscow, which importers fear may lead to a price cartel similar to the OPEC oil group.

Ministers will attend a meeting of 16 countries to approve the statutes of the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries, a statement from Russia`s energy ministry said, announcing the postponed date of the meeting which had been set for mid-November.

The group`s statutes will be fixed before the full ministers` meeting at a separate gathering on November 26.

The forum groups Algeria, Bolivia, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela. Equatorial Guinea and Norway will attend as observers.

Five of these countries between them control nearly two thirds of the world`s gas reserves and account for 42 percent of its production -- Russia, Iran, Qatar, Venezuela and Algeria.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday rejected as `baseless` claims by critics that the forum would act like the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and cooperate to influence or fix prices.