Qatar prepares for another year under blockade
Intra-GCC tensions will continue under the cloud of Saudi-Iran hostility
For the five members of the GCC excluding Saudi Arabia, 2019 will be dominated by the machinations of Riyadh and Tehran, the two giant competitors for regional dominance. While a war between Saudi Arabia and Iran is unlikely, the possibility cannot be totally excluded. Any conflict would result, at very least, in a sizeable spike in oil prices. About 18mn bl/d of crude oil and almost 4mn bl/d of refined products pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain are entirely dependent on the strait for their exports. The question is how prolonged any spike would prove to be. As Saudi Arabia and Iran continue to talk tough, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the UAE can do little more
Also in this section
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
13 April 2026
For GCC producers, the ceasefire may prove more destabilising than the war itself: exports remain constrained, and control over Hormuz has shifted in ways that could endure
