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United States secretary of state Antony Blinken visited Riyadh for talks with senior Gulf Co-operation Council figures as well as Yemen's Presidential Leadership Council head Rashad Al-Alimi and Iraqi foreign minister Fuad Hussein.
Ras Al-Khaimah (RAK) Ruler Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al-Qasimi made an unusual visit to Oman on 13 June for talks with Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said at Al-Baraka Palace in Muscat. While Sheikh Saud occasionally represents the UAE at regional summits, he rarely makes official overseas trips on his own behalf.
Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said was unusually active in late May, making trips to Cairo and Tehran in quick succession, just as Egypt and Iran were edging towards a diplomatic rapprochement. Recent reports also suggest Oman may once again be acting as a mediator between Washington and Tehran.
Iran freed Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele in exchange for the release of Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi from jail in Belgium, in a deal arranged by Oman. The two men first travelled to Muscat before heading on to their respective home countries.
Moody's Investors Service upgraded Oman's long-term senior unsecured rating from Ba3 to Ba2 while maintaining the positive outlook. The agency said the change reflected the continued reduction in Oman's sovereign debt burden and its improving debt affordability metrics during 2022.
Omani officials are working on reforms to the welfare system and drawing up measures to encourage more private sector activity, in plans that offer further evidence of Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said’s efforts to move the economy away from state paternalism.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani travelled to London to attend the coronation ceremony of King Charles III on 6 May. Also to attend the service was Bahrain’s King Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa, Kuwait's Crown Prince Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, and Oman's culture, sports and youth minister Sayyid Theyazin Bin Haitham Al-Said. It was not clear who would attend from the UAE or Saudi Arabia.
Ratings boost: Fitch Ratings revised its outlook on Oman’s rating to positive from stable on 11 April, while affirming it at BB. S&P Global Ratings had announced the same move on 31 March. Fitch said the change reflected the improvements made in the government debt to gross domestic product ratio, with high oil prices and spending restraint reducing the external liquidity risk. Debt/GDP fell from 61% at end-2021 to 40% a year later and Fitch said it should reach 37% by end-2024.
Oman's Ministry of Energy and Minerals has opened a new bidding round for hydrocarbons concessions, including Block 15 at Jebel Aswad, south of Ibri, Block 36 at Fasad, adjacent to the Oman-Yemen-Saudi border triangle, and onshore Block 54 at Karawan, south-west of Duqm.
The population of Oman has broken through the 5m barrier, as the National Centre for Statistics and Information reported in March that the population had reached 5,000,772, made up of 2,881,313 Omanis and 2,119,459 resident expatriates.
A joint venture of Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries (Sembcorp) and China’s Jinko Power Technology has won a contract to build, own and operate the 500MW Manah Solar II independent power project (IPP) in Manah, under a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).
Oman's Sultan Haitham Bin Tariq Al-Said paid a series of visits to military bases in mid-March. He was at the Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO)’s Adam Air Base, and at Shafa Garrison, accompanied by his eldest son Crown Prince Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al-Said.
Hydrogen Oman (Hydrom), a subsidiary of state-owned Energy Development Oman (EDO), signed six term-sheet agreements with developers to invest in green hydrogen projects worth more than OR20bn ($52bn) and involving some 15GW of renewable energy capacity.
Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states are reshaping their regional outlook, as transactional relationships replace some of the more ideologically-driven approaches taken since the 2011 Arab Spring. Former outcasts led by Iran and Syria are being welcomed into Gulf palaces once again, at least in part due to concerns the US can no longer provide a trusted security umbrella. In this rapidly changing environment, Iran could yet emerge as a significant new market for GCC investors.
In rare public criticism of the authorities, Grand Mufti of Oman Ahmed Bin Hamad Al-Khalili has voiced his objection to a recent decision to open Omani airspace to Israeli planes.
