Many wings over the Gulf
The GCC/Qatar crisis is only the latest and most serious case of Gulf oil producers putting sovereignty above regional integration
There was a day when Gulf Air—tayran al-khalij in Arabic, which literally means 'the airline of the Gulf'—was just that. Or nearly. In the final decades of the last century, Gulf Air was a joint venture involving the governments of Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Oman and Qatar. Not a bad base to build on. The formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 1980 had led to hopes that the national airlines of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia would come under the Gulf Air umbrella—providing an obvious early success story for the new regional grouping of oil producers. Not only did those two states fail to sign up, but over the space of a few years Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman pulled out of the joint venture, leavi
Also in this section
24 December 2025
As activity in the US Gulf has stagnated at a lower level, the government is taking steps to encourage fresh exploration and bolster field development work
23 December 2025
The new government has brought stability and security to the country, with the door now open to international investment
23 December 2025
A third wave of LNG supply is coming, and with it a likely oversupply of the fuel by 2028
22 December 2025
Weakening climate resolve in the developed world and rapidly growing demand in developing countries means peak oil is still a long way away
