Middle East needs more creativity in oil and gas exploration

Eni’s success in Egypt and new Iraqi oil discoveries show that “the Middle East and North Africa region does not explore enough, or in the right way,” Robin Mills writes for The National. “The remaining potential, particularly in underexplored regions such as Iran, Iraq and offshore Lebanon and North Africa, is vast,” he says. Mills believes that national oil companies need to relax their grip and be open to more investment. He says “the region’s national oil companies can think more creatively and proactively about exploration, perhaps creating special divisions with some freedom and an international mandate. Underexplored areas can be opened to international players, including imaginative specialists.”