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OAPEC Activities
Volume 41 Issue 1022
HE Al Naqi concluded his speech by
wishing the participants success in achieving
the meeting goals and in their discussions over
the natural gas industry developments in the
member countries.
After endorsing the meeting agenda,
Director of the Technical Affairs Department
Dr Samir Al Qara’ish and a group of experts
reviewed the Secretariat General’s activities
since the last meeting like: the developments of
the gas industry both on Arab and international
levels while incorporating them in the monthly
bulletin, the Secretary General’sAnnual Report,
and the statistical report. Also, most important
gas industry developments in the member
countries and the region were highlighted
including the big natural gas explorations in
the Middle East, which proved the existence of
more than 75 trillion cubic feet, and their future
implications for the region and the world.
The Secretariat General and participants gave
presentations on the development of the gas
industry in their respective countries. Then, the
participants made remarks and exchanged views
on the papers presented during the meeting.
The papers presented at the meeting
discussed some member countries’ interest in
increasing their natural gas resources, how to
use them through adopting strategic plans, and
continuing to execute developmental projects.
The papers also discussed the proposed LNG
receiving terminals, and importing gas via
pipelines in light of the future projections
expecting demand for natural gas to exceed
domestic production levels in some Arab
countries. Some papers tackled the latest
technology in well drilling and completion on
the purpose of improving productivity. Other
papers highlighted projects on developing and
expanding the existing natural gas facilities in
the Arab countries. The papers concluded that
it was noticed that some member countries
leaned towards injecting more investments in
the natural gas sector as they did with the oil
sector. This is due to relying on gas as a fuel for
power generation which is increasing in some
Arab countries, in addition to the importance
of gas as a feedstock for petrochemicals and
other downstream industries. The participants
also stressed the importance of bilateral or
multilateral cooperation among member
countries to achieve mutual interests.
At the end of the meeting, the participants
hailed the Secretariat General’s efforts in
holding such meetings and its concern on
creating the right atmosphere for exchanging
information and expertise among natural gas
experts.