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The relationship between Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS) and UAE President (since May 2022) Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (MBZ) goes back some way.  However, the two have grown more distant in recent years.

Revised March 2023, this map illustrates Yemen's oil and gas infrastructure.  The locations of onshore and offshore oil and gas fields and pipelines are marked alongside associated infrastructure including oil refineries, gas processing plants, tanker terminals and LNG facilities. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

The overwhelming might of Iran’s internal security apparatus has ruthlessly suppressed the demonstrations which broke out in September 2022, following the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. The regime has dug in at home and abroad to protect the system of clerical rule, with hardliners as dominant as ever. But the protests have continued despite this onslaught and the regime’s critics have found new ways to express their discontent, from widespread strikes (including in the Tehran bazaar, a bastion of the 1979 revolution), to cyberattacks on state banks and other institutions.

Somalia has been accused by the Sanaa-based Petroleum Exploration and Production Authority (Pepa) of having an unofficial maritime map that includes offshore blocks that are in Yemeni waters. The dispute adds to an already complex situation for the oil and gas sector, amid the ongoing civil war. Despite that, Sanaa authorities say they are seeking interest from IOCs in offshore blocks.

Relations between the two heavyweight Gulf monarchies – Saudi Arabia and the UAE – appear to have succumbed to a renewed period of tension, amid rising economic competition and a growing list of differences over regional diplomatic issues.

Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani named foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Bin Jassim Al-Thani as prime minister in March, following the resignation of Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Bin Abdelaziz Al-Thani, who had been premier since January 2020. Tamim’s youngest full-brother Khalifa Bin Hamad Al-Thani  was named interior minister, a position Khalid Bin Khalifa had also held.

The issue leads with an analysis of the rifts forming between Saudi Arabia and the UAE, looking into how Saudi oil economy ambitions have impacted Emirati officials. Politics and Royals watch sections follow with news of the Qatari Emir replacing the country's prime minister and opposition and revolution in Iran. Energy and industry covers claims that Somalia has an unofficial maritime map with offshore blocks in Yemeni waters. This is considered in the context of Yemen's civil war and outreach for IOCs. This article is accompanied by a map illustrating the Yemen's exploration and production blocks. RMRs focus on Bahrain and Iran. This issue's view article, which is free to view for registrants, concerns the Iranian regime's tightening grip on protests following the death in custody of 22-year- old Mahsa Amini. GSN asks whether opposition forces can hold out. 

The Kuwaiti government has proposed cuts to capital spending but sharp rises in current expenditure as part of its budget for fiscal year 2023/24, which starts on 1 April. 

Updates on Regional and international organisations: Another Kuwaiti GCC secretary-general Regional electricity interconnection Support for Palestinians Arab League intellectual property committee World Bank leadership Updates on Opec and energy markets: Bumper year for revenues Opec+ holds solid Alternatives to the dollar? China and India are key players

Matthew Campbell and Kit Chellel's book "Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry" chronicles the proceedings that uncovered a jaw-dropping international conspiracy to commit what would have been the world's largest-ever maritime insurance fraud.

Leaked Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) documents suggest the region’s crude oil production could reach 580,000 b/d by 2027, compared to about 430,000 b/d in 2022 – but only under the most optimistic scenario where investment is fully optimised.

Updated February 2023, this map provides a detailed overview of the hydrocarbons sector in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The map focuses on blocks and fields in the Kurdistan region and area along its border with the rest of Iraq. Blocks that are licensed and open are shown with block operators and oil and gas fields marked. Associated mid- and downstream infrastructure is also such as pipelines, refineries and gas processing plants. The map is available as a PDF file using eps graphics, meaning that there is no loss of resolution as the file is enlarged.

Labelled by the British press as a ‘billionaire banker’, Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani was born in April 1982 into a family that accrued almost unimaginable wealth, as the Qatari economy grew from an all but impoverished desert peninsula into a global-scale gas giant. His father, former prime minister and foreign minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani (HBJ), played an instrumental role in that process.

Sheikh Jassim Bin Hamad Bin Jassim Al-Thani’s emergence as a bidder to buy Manchester United FC has thrust the banker into the global limelight, while also posing questions about the balance of power and wealth in the opaque world of Qatari politics, which his father Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim (HBJ) dominated for so many years.

Saudi Arabia celebrated its recently created Founding Day on 22 February – the second year it has been officially marked. It marks what is referred to as the creation of the ‘First Saudi State’, on the day ancestor Mohammed Ibn Saud took control of Diriyah in 1727.  It is different from National Day, which marks “the unification” of Saudi Arabia on 23 September 1932.