One third of national and international companies in the oil and gas industry identified training and development as the most significant challenge in ensuring future success, a new survey has found.

The poll, obtained by Emirates Business, also showed that 37.5 per cent of firms view balancing commercial and national interests as a pressing concern for the future.

Of the 280 oil and gas industry professionals included in the survey, 89 per cent were confident that ensuring funding for major downstream projects would not be an issue despite the hostile economic conditions pervading at present.

Dr Shokri Ghanem, chairman of the National Committee for National Oil Corporation in Libya (NOC), predicted that there will be greater cooperation between national and international companies in the future.

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

Libya's NOC recently announced that it signed an exploration and production sharing agreement with Russian firm Tatneft covering 16 wells in three areas in Libya.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development