Abdullah al-Attiyah, Qatar's energy minister and deputy prime minister, has tracked the rise of developing oil-producing nations over the last 125 years and highlighted the pivotal role they will play in shaping the global oil and gas industry of the future.

Speaking at the founding ceremony of the Arab Energy Forum in Beirut, Mr al-Attiyah explained that developing nations have been able to take control of their oil and gas assets and have used revenues from asset sales to promote national prosperity and regional stability through investment in areas such as infrastructure, health and training and development.

Writing for Daily Hayat, oil and gas industry expert Walid Khadduri explained that national oil companies have also helped to develop world-leading educational institutes such as the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in Saudi Arabia, which was designed and built by Saudi Aramco.

The 36-million square feet campus was opened by its namesake King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz on September 23rd 2009, two years after the official groundbreaking ceremony.

Getenergy event for GCC countries November 2009