The Arab region now produces 15.5 percent of the world gas production, an increase of 11.8 percent from the levels in 1980s, according to the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (Oapec).

Engineer Wael Abdul Mo'ti, gas industries expert at the technical affairs department, Oapec, was quoted by Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) as saying that Arab countries' natural gas production has been growing significantly since early 1980s through 2015, clocking an annual growth of 7 percent.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the second day of the 24th Forum on Fundamentals of Oil and Gas Industry, organised by Oapec in Kuwait.

The forum is organised every year to enhance perception of oil and gas industry fundamentals, and keep the participants abreast of relevant direct and indirect developments worldwide.

Yasser Al Baghdadi, another oil expert at Oapec technical affairs department, said development of sophisticated logistics has boosted upstream operations, specially in areas previously thought unreachable for oil exploration activities. He highlighted in this regard the increasing reliance on pipelines in transporting oil and liquefied natural gas.