The United States and China can have closer cooperation in oil and gas industry in the future, a US industry leader said here Thursday at an energy expo.

"There is a great opportunity for the US and Chinese companies to get together and grow and help each other out, and develop resources that will help both economies," said Martin Schardt, executive vice president of the North American Prospect Expo (NAPE).

The three-day events, held in the US oil hub of Houston, provides a marketplace for the buying, selling and trading of oil and gas prospects and producing properties.

As an industry leader, Schardt sees great opportunities for China and the US in cooperation on energy and he has every confidence in China's energy market.

The Chinese companies were welcomed to participate in the NAPE, though they were absent from this year's expo, Schardt said.

"We are still waiting for Chinese to come here. We will be very excited when they come but we do not have any Chinese company this year," Schardt said.

"China's oil and gas industry is obviously very active. They seem to be well-funded and ready to explore. We see a lot of them here in the US," he said.

"They are really picking that up. I see the oil and gas industry in China is really growing over the next five to 10 years. I think it is on a steep incline," he added. The expo is set to end on Friday.