Eighty-nine per cent of national oil companies (NOCs) and international oil companies (IOCs) said securing investments for development of downstream projects will not be a major problem.

A survey conducted as part of the World National Oil Companies Congress held in Abu Dhabi last week said there was a need for greater collaboration to help ease funding pressures and deal with future challenges of national and commercial interests.

The survey, obtained by Emirates Business, was prepared after feedback from more than 280 experts in the oil and gas field.

Among the total respondents, more than 13 per cent said IOCs best describe their organisations compared to 9.4 per cent supporting NOCs, while 13.2 per cent voted for midcap junior oil companies, which they believe will be the driving force in the sector's development.

Regarding future challenges, 37.5 per cent said balancing national and commercial interests will be the biggest challenge in the future, while 33.3 per cent saw recruiting, training and retaining skilled staff a pressing issue for the sector.

Only 8.8 per cent of the experts saw security of demand a future challenge.

Regarding future opportunities, 62.3 per cent said it was about maximising strategic partnerships (including renegotiation of production sharing agreements), 42.3 per cent forecast maximum monetisation of gas reserves and 43 favoured deepwater exploration and production.

More than 36 per cent believe the balance of power will shift towards NOCs with IOCs becoming simply service contractors, while 24.8 per cent disagreed.

The conference in Abu Dhabi called for greater collaboration between national oil companies (NOCs) and international oil companies (IOCs) to help ease funding pressures for new projects.

The survey also covered areas such as future downstream business for NOCs, alternative energy and key drivers for the industry.

However, the overall conclusion of the survey stressed on greater collaboration and co-operation among NOCs, IOCs and engineering and contracting companies as well as more investment in the downstream business.

The congress, which was held for four days and attended by local, regional and international experts as well as Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries officials, also called for greater collaboration.

Ali Al Yabhouni, General Manager of NGSCO and Abu Dhabi National Tanker Company (Adnatco), the two shipping arms of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said: "We are not seeing enough co-operation between NOCs and IOCs. We are also not seeing enough co-operation among NOCs. We need more collaboration and joint ventures within NOCs and between NOCs and IOCs as well as engineering and contracting firms."

Dr Shokri Ghanem, Chairman of the National Committee for National Oil Corporation, Libya, said collaboration between NOCs and IOCs and government support was important for the sector's future.

"The IOCs need to work more closely with NOCs. They have to work as equal partners. There are many challenges for NOCs, particularly the budgetary problems with government cutting budgets for them. If governments want return, they have to provide fair shares for the industry in their budgets," he said.

Dr Ghanem also said NOC-IOC collaboration will play a key role in easing funding pressures for new projects. He said he was optimistic about greater partnership between the two with.

"I see not only deeper partnership between the two, but also joint ventures among them," he added.