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Dr Shokri Ghanem, the chairman of the National Oil Company of Libya, has said that the oil industry will witness mergers between National Oil Companies (NOCs) and International Oil Companies (IOCs) within the next decade.
Speaking at the current World National Oil Companies Congress in Abu Dhabi, Dr Ghanem said that because most NOCs needed to overcome issues with bureaucracy and long decision making processes, merging with a company free of such constraints would be beneficial to both parties.
“Slowly and surely the artificial walls separating the IOCs from the NOCs are slowly disappearing. In the coming decade we will witness some mergers and acquisitions between NOCs and IOCs,” Dr Ghanem said.
“One cannot always make a clear distinction between some NOCs and IOCs. Some NOCs are getting closer in operation and practices and in the scope of their businesses as the IOCs,” he added.
Dr Ghanem also said that this only applied for NOCs from developed countries as others “still lack the range of flexibility and independence and drift away from maintaining the commercial practices essential for making progress”.
Dr Ghanem also said he believed that the future will see the nation state acting more like a company and acquiring shares in oil companies.
Dr Ghanem is one of a number of high profile guest speakers at the World National Oil Congress.
