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OAPEC Activities
14
Volume
44
Issue
2
Upon a kind invitation by the organisers, OAPEC Secretary General HE Abbas Ali Al Naqi took part
in the 21st International Conference on Petroleum, Mineral Resources and Development organised by
The Egyptian Petroleum Research Institution (EPRI) in Cairo from 20 to 22 February 2018 under the
auspices of Egypt’s Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister HE Eng. Tarek El Molla and Minister for
Higher Education and Scientific Research HE Dr Khaled Abdul Ghaffar. Many researchers, experts, and
specialists in the petroleum industry and scientific research took part in the event.
The conference sessions discussed 203
research papers on petroleum and energy-
related aspects.
HE Al Naqi delivered a speech at the opening
of the conference in which he indicated that
Arab petroleum producing and exporting
countries enjoy a significant status at the global
petroleum industry’s scene. They have a range
of potentials that qualify them to establish
an integrated and competitive petroleum
industry, including a geographical location
that is close to promising demand-driver
consuming markets like China, India, Japan,
and Korea, as well as, traditional consuming
markets in Europe and the USA. He mentioned
a number of indicators linked to the global and
Arab petroleum industry.
The Secretary General said that in the
beginning of 2018, OAPEC members’ proven
oil reserves have reached about 706.8 billion
barrels (representing about 48.8% of the
world’s total reserves). As for natural gas,
OAPEC members’ reserves have reached about
53.5 trillion cubic metres (representing about
27.2% of the world’s total reserves).
HE Al Naqi drew attention to the increasing
reliance of Arab energy systems on natural
gas; it now contributes with over 50% to the
Arab primary energy mix, since gas has the
lowest emissions resulting from its flaring
THE 21
ST
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
PETROLEUM, MINERAL RESOURCES AND DEVELOPMENT