High oil prices have spurred investment in reserves
Gulf oil producers dust off costlier projects
The market upswing is driving investment in untapped reserves and field redevelopments previously considered commercially unviable
Oil price booms typically spur investment in reserves with challenging economics. And the current boom is proving no different, despite intensified global decarbonisation pressures. The Mideast Gulf’s leading producers, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, resumed spending on key development projects almost as soon as the recovery took hold early last year. Now with prices at eight-year highs and showing scant prospect of receding soon, the region’s smaller players are also investing anew while mothballed schemes with relatively high breakeven costs are back on the agenda. In March, state-owned QatarEnergy (QE) awarded a contract to Netherlands-based Fugro to “de-risk” the long-delayed redevelopment of
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
