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Kuwait Oil Company announced in mid-July the discovery of the offshore Al-Nokhatha field, which is estimated to hold some 2.1bn barrels of crude and more than 5tcf of natural gas.

A rare by-election is being held in early September, following a court ruling to strip Mohammed Al-Hussaini of his seat in the Council of Representatives because he held citizenship of a second country.

The low-cost carrier is sticking to its all-Airbus strategy but is now adding wide-body aircraft to its fleet.

Persistent budget deficits and the rapid depletion of the General Reserve Fund are prompting the Kuwaiti government to consider some potentially unpopular moves to restrict state spending.

Listed subsidiaries of Sheikh Tahnoun’s Investment Holding Company have had a tough first half of the year, with Multiply Group reporting a large loss and sister companies Alpha Dhabi and Emirates Stallions Group announcing sharp drops in profits.

Bahraini national security advisor gave fulsome backing to the four-year-old Abraham Accords, saying “We would encourage others to join”, while speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in the United States.

The UAE has been clamping down hard on opposition figures this year, in what appears to be an increasingly repressive domestic political arena. A mass trial ended in July with the conviction of 53 people – many of them still behind bars from a 2013 court case. Abu Dhabi now says it has identified a new secret group of exiles operating outside the country trying to stir up trouble back home.

Air Vice Marshal Sabah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was appointed deputy chief of staff of the Kuwait Army, via an emiri order.

The UAE has seen distinctly mixed results from the six Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreements that it has brought into force over the past two years. Trade with India has been growing at a slower pace than trade with the rest of the world and other deals have also been underperforming, as the easing of tariffs and other trade restrictions rubs up against broader geopolitical and macroeconomic issues.

Qatar’s ambassador to Bahrain Sultan Ali Yousef Mohammed Al-Khater presented his credentials to Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa further cementing the resumption of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

In late July, just as the UAE was wrapping up several of its latest bilateral free trade deals, a GCC delegation was in Ankara from 29-31 July for the first round of discussions on a free trade deal with Türkiye.  That was soon followed on 1 August by the official launch of negotiations on a free trade agreement between the GCC and Indonesia.

Revised August 2024, this map illustrates the various free trade agreements arranged with the UAE, including details on the value, trade partner ranking and status under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa).  The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Bahrain’s ambassador Mohammed Al-Ghatam presented his credentials to Qatar’s minister of state for foreign affairs Soltan Bin Saad Al-Muraikhi in Doha on 28 July.

Azerbaijan has reopened its embassy in Tehran, almost 18 months after the diplomatic mission was shuttered following an armed assault.

Oman’s plans for a fourth LNG train at the Qalhat Industrial Complex is an indication of the robust health of the regional LNG market and follows a trend already established in other Gulf producers of gas.