ABU DHABIÑ The Middle East could receive up to $500 billion in investment in the region's sector.

A senior Western oil executive said $500 billion will be invested in the Middle East oil sector until 2015. The investment will come from both within and outside the region.

"It is a very, very round number -- you never know what the future holds -- but this is an estimate of spending needs over the next 12 years," Exxon-Mobil Exploration executive vice president Tim Cejka said.

Cejka said on the sidelines of a recent energy seminar in Manama, Bahrain that his assessment was based on global energy investment in 2003. He said that up to $200 billion was spent in 2003 for oil production and development.