NEW YORK (13 October 2015)—Addressing attendees of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Kuwait Oil & Gas Show and Conference, BP CEO Bob Dudley spoke at length about the necessary exchange of technology between private and state-owned E&P companies that must take place for the Middle East to remain competitive in the global energy market. “With oil and gas becoming more difficult to extract, and low prices putting pressure on costs, the challenges may have grown,” he said. “But so has our ability to meet the challenges of today and the demands of tomorrow. We can do that by combining the complementary strengths of NOCs and IOCs to the benefit of countries around the globe.” The industry executive highlighted several projects from Iraq to Oman where technologies such as hydraulic fracturing, imaging and data management have optimized recovery throughout the region. “A common factor in all of these examples is the need to balance current demands with long-term aspirations,” he said. “And we estimate that each 1 percent improvement in recovery delivered across all of the conventional oil fields of this region would equate to between 16 and 20 billion barrels of oil equivalent.”