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1 week ago | 
economymiddleeast.com | Kate Dourian
Of the more than $3 trillion in investments pledged by GCC leaders during U.S. president Donald Trump’s regional tour, U.S. LNG emerged as a top strategic target.
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2 weeks ago | 
mees.com | Jamie Ingram |Kate Dourian |Yesar Al-Maleki
Israeli military strikes against Iran’s nuclear program have long been held up as a worst-case scenario for geopolitical risk in the Middle East, and on 13 June that scenario materialized as Israeli military jets struck the Natanz uranium enrichment facility among other sites across the country. Reports indicate Iranian nuclear scientists were targeted as well.
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2 weeks ago | 
agsi.org | Kate Dourian |Ben Cahill |Raad Alkadiri |Iman Nasseri
The Gulf Cooperation Council countries are navigating a complex energy and geopolitical landscape that is rapidly evolving. At the heart of this transformation lies the balancing act among economic diversification, long-term energy security, and sustainability – three pillars under increasing pressure from regional conflict, market volatility, and shifting global alliances.
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3 weeks ago | 
agsi.org | John Calabrese |Kate Dourian |Rasha Aljoundy
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024 and the formation of a transitional authority in Damascus have opened a new chapter in Syria’s long-running conflict. For the Gulf Arab states – particularly Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – this shift presents both an opportunity to shape Syria’s reconstruction and a test of their competing visions for postconflict influence in the Levant.
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1 month ago | 
agsi.org | Kate Dourian |Hussein Ibish |Aziz Alghashian |Mohammed Baharoon
On May 24, the U.S. government took decisive action to begin implementing President Donald J. Trump’s surprisingly bold decision, announced during his mid-May visit to Riyadh, to lift all U.S. sanctions on Syria. It represents the most significant – albeit benign – aftershock following the political earthquake set off by the sudden collapse of the Bashar al-Assad regime in early December 2024.
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1 month ago | 
economymiddleeast.com | Kate Dourian
The International Energy Agency (IEA) and the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) downgraded sharply their oil demand forecasts for 2025 amid intensifying trade tensions between the U.S. and China. OPEC, while more optimistic, also revised its forecasts lower. All three organizations cited the impact of recent U.S. tariffs for the cuts.
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1 month ago | 
mees.com | Kate Dourian
In December 1975, when Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, aka Carlos the Jackal, and an armed group attacked Opec headquarters in Vienna and took dozens of ministers and delegates hostage, one man kept his cool. His name was Abdul Samad al-Awadhi, a member of the Kuwaiti delegation and a former head of the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation’s (KPC) Europe operations. He died in London last week.
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2 months ago | 
economymiddleeast.com | Kate Dourian
Gulf Arab states, led by the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have witnessed a modest rise in electric vehicle (EV) adoption as they develop infrastructure to support a move away from internal combustion engines. Urbanization and economic growth have led to a rise in emissions from the transportation sector, making decarbonization an imperative in the drive to net zero carbon emissions.
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Mar 13, 2025 | 
economymiddleeast.com | Kate Dourian
Last month, a nationwide power outage in Sri Lanka caused by a monkey tripping an electricity transformer drew attention to the urgent need for resilient power grids as the global economy becomes more electrified and digitalized. Medical facilities and water purification plants in Sri Lanka had to rely on backup generators to maintain critical operations while traffic was gridlocked because traffic lights went dark.
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Feb 11, 2025 | 
economymiddleeast.com | Kate Dourian
The UAE has launched what it says is the world’s first and largest 24-hour power project, combining solar photovoltaic with battery storage to deliver 1 gigawatt of baseload electricity. The announcement was made by Dr. Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and chairman of clean energy giant Masdar on January 14 at Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week. He did not provide a cost estimate but independent calculations put the price tag at $6 billion.
