The following is excerpted from a story in the Western Courier, titled "Russia, Iran, Qatar to form gas cartel", dated November 22, 2008:
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Russia, Iran and Qatar made the first serious moves Tuesday toward forming an OPEC-style cartel on natural gas, raising concerns that Moscow could boost its influence over energy markets spanning from Europe to South Asia Such an alliance would have little direct impact on the United States, which imports virtually no natural gas from Russia or the other nations In Europe - which counts on Russia for nearly half of its natural gas imports - any cartel controlled by Moscow poses a threat to supply and pricing Together Russia, Qatar and Iran hold some 60 percent of world gas reserves.
How does this arrangement fit the definition of an oligopoly and a cartel? Based on evidence from game theory, why did the nations of Europe NOT need to worry about threats to supply and pricing?