Concerns have been expressed that a gas analogue of OPEC may appear in the East. There are reasons to believe this is true. The SCO's oil resources are not overly significant: even with Iran, which has observer status within the organization, they do not exceed 20% of the world's total. The situation with gas is different: the gas reserves of Russia, the Central Asian states, and Iran make up more than 50% of the world's proved reserves. Iran's proposal to determine gas prices and principal transportation routes together with Russia only added oil to the flame.