OPEC President Muhammad bin Dhain al-Hamili said on Tuesday that various countries needed to enhance oil and natural gas capacity, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Al-Hamili, also energy minister of the United Arab Emirates, made his remarks at the 10th Annual International Energy Conference entitled "East Meets West: New Frontiers of Energy Security."

There was also a need for significant investments in energy transportation, al-Hamili said, adding that another problem was about ecology and environment.

OPEC members were ready to support all related initiatives aimed to develop new technologies and generate energy without causing environmental harm, al-Hamili said.

Rifat Hisarciklioglu, chairman of the Executive Board of Turkey 's Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK), underlined increasing importance of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation since the region boasts the world's second-largest source of oil and natural gas only after the Gulf region and is a major transit corridor for energy supplies bound for Europe.

Hisarciklioglu said that the energy dependence of Europe, currently at 50 percent, is expected to rise to 70 percent in 2020.

"Therefore, we need to boost our cooperation, connect cities and ports in the Black Sea with each other and make Black Sea a sea of stability and prosperity."

The conference was jointly organized in Istanbul by the DEIK and Cambridge Energy Research Associates.

Source: Xinhua