member Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Oapec) said that the current unrest in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has led to disruption of crude supplies from some regional producers, adding that pirate attacks on tankers in the Red Sea have aggravated the problem. In a study published in its monthly bulletin, the Kuwaiti-based group said these developments have given rise to global concerns about the security of oil supply from the region amidst reports that world demand would continue to rise at relatively high rates in the coming years. Arab hydrocarbon exporters are carrying out mega projects to expand their oil production capacity to meet growing global demand but they need assurances from consumers on demand security to push ahead with such plans. "Arab countries are determined to make progress in building more energy projects, since they give value added to their national economies, which are heavily dependent on petroleum revenues…. however, the continuity of this course depends not only on the vision of the Arab oil exporting countries, but also on the other part of the equation, namely the importing countries," it said. The report stressed that "security of demand is the other face of the supply security coin and a major and decisive factor in prompting the Arab petroleum exporting countries to pump more investments into the energy sector….it requires continued dialogue between producers and consumers in an atmosphere of transparency and honesty through the various international institutions related to energy, notably the International Energy Forum based in Saudi Arabia." Nonetheless, despite current political turmoil in some Arab nations, crude supplies from the region would not be largely affected given the high output capacity of Gulf countries and the massive proven oil reserves in the Middle East, it said. Oapec study estimated the region's recoverable oil reserves at nearly 683 billion barrels at the end of 2010 while Arab nations also control around 54.8 trillion cubic meters of gas. The study said such gigantic hydrocarbon potential would enable Arab countries to remain major oil and gas suppliers for several decades. In 2010, global oil demand swelled from 84.5 million bpd to 86.1 million bpd in 2009, and some sources, including Opec and the International Energy Agency forecast that world oil demand in 2011 will grow slightly, buoyed by rising demand in China and India and signs of economic recovery from the global financial crisis of 2008/2009, Oapec said. Oapec figures showed most Arab nations recorded a significant increase in exploration activities, which resulted in 98 discoveries in 2010.
