The tight control of state-owned oil and gas companies in the Gulf region should be eased, making the sector open for competition, an industry executive told an oil forum.

'In our region, the NOCs' (national oil companies) dominant position should open to competition,' Ahmed Al Arbeed, chief executive officer of the private gas company Dana Gas was quoted as saying in a report our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News.

'To achieve efficient exploitation of resources, NOCs need to be subject to competitive pressure,' he said.

He suggested the NOCs that control the oil and gas industry in the region could still maintain a role in an open market, citing partial privatisation as an option.