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While most often seen as the example of a northern emirate developing an impressive business model, Fujairah is under scrutiny for the operations that pass through its port and bunkering centre. Industry daily Lloyd’s List on 26 February reported: “Deceptive shipping practices from offshore loadings from the Iraqi port Khor al-Zubair reveal hidden cargoes of sanctioned Iranian fuel oil are being shipped to Malaysia and Fujairah.”

Technip’s project management consultancy arm, working with Japanese consultant Unico, has been awarded a contract for engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, start-up and warranty management for the Basra refinery upgrading project. The Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA)-funded contract, announced on 28 April, was awarded by the Ministry of Oil (MoO)’s South Refineries Company. Technip – which was awarded a similar contract in June 2013 for the Karbala refinery – will execute the work from its engineering centre in Milton Keynes, UK.

Work has stopped on Al-Maktoum International Airport (also known as Dubai World Central), whose mega-expansion would eventually bring design capacity to 260m passengers a year. Bloomberg reported that Dubai’s decision to halt construction activity and freeze financing commitments was linked to the slowdown in Gulf economies. Completion of the estimated $36bn super-hub’s first phase – which is intended to consolidate Emirates’ position as the world’s leading long-haul carrier with a capacity increase to 130 passengers/yr – had already been pushed back five years to 2030.

The big three airlines of the Gulf – Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways – have become global brands thanks to massive investments in modern aircraft fleets and ever-widening route networks. The particulars of their business models may vary, but all three ultimately rely on having hubs in the Gulf through which they funnel huge numbers of passengers onto connecting flights. But the airlines are now at risk of becoming victims of their own success. Their growth, coupled with the proliferation of other new airlines over the past decade, means the Gulf’s skies are in danger of becoming so overcrowded that delays become routine.

The sight of an official Israeli delegation at a high-profile event in the Gulf is still one of the more unusual elements of an International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) conference. Israel voted for Abu Dhabi as the home of the intergovernmental body in 2009, in large part so it would have an excuse to establish a permanent diplomatic base in the region.The Israeli office is led by Rami Hatan, formerly a director of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ world religions department.

Members of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) appointed Kuwaiti candidate Ali Bin Sabt as secretary-general at the organisation’s 103rd meeting, held in Kuwait on 22 December. Bin Sabt worked for many years as an assistant undersecretary for technical affairs in the Kuwaiti Ministry of Oil; he takes over from the UAE’s Abbas Al-Naqi. The organisation’s next meeting will also be held in Kuwait, in December 2020.

In a sign of the times, some 240 Qatari companies are expected to exhibit their wares at the Made in Qatar event in Muscat on 3-6 December (delayed from its original early November dates).

Riyadh is planning to launch a $30bn-50bn renewable energy investment programme in the near future, according to comments by energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al-Falih on 23 January. The programme is designed to result in 3.5GW of clean energy generating capacity by 2020 and 9.5GW by 2023. Significant investment in nuclear power is also on the cards, he said.

There have been no new drone strikes on Saudi territory from Yemen following the 14 September attack on oil facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais. The strike against the Saudi Aramco plants was initially claimed by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, before those claims were widely dismissed as implausible. It remains to be seen if the drone and missile campaign has come to a complete halt, but GSN sources indicate the Houthis are having difficulty in securing components for their drones from overseas.

An oil tanker which illegally lifted Libyan crude from the As-Sidrah terminal, currently outside government control, may have been heading for the Gulf with the aim of selling its cargo in Fujairah, according to oil market sources. Investigations have suggested that Gulf-based traders were behind the transaction, which was interrupted when US Navy Seals commandeered the vessel in international waters near Cyprus on 17 March. While loading crude on 12 March at As-Sidrah, one of four terminals under the command of regional Petroleum Facilities Guard chief turned separatist leader Ibrahim Al-Jathran, the Morning Glory crude tanker was registered under a North Korean flag. However, soon after it broke through a feeble Libyan navy blockade with 234,000 bbls of stolen crude on board, Pyongyang cancelled its registration, turning it into a stateless vessel. The US military acted soon afterwards, claiming that it had been taken over by three armed Libyans.

As the low price of a barrel of oil begins to tip the fiscal balances of countries across the Gulf region, there is a cogent argument that says now would be an excellent time to wind down energy subsidies. In a time of relative austerity, so the argument goes, the population will find it easier to accept that it needs to assume its share of the burden; lower oil prices also mean the rise in cost to businesses and consumers need not be too dramatic.

Deputy transport minister Asghar Fakhrieh Kashan has told local media that nine financial institutions from Europe and Asia have expressed interest in providing finance for Iran Air’s previously announced purchases of Airbus and Boeing aircraft. He did not name the institutions but said they came from Denmark, Ireland, Norway, the UK, China and Japan. Among those thought to be interested in supporting financing for some of the deals is UK Export Finance (UKEF).

Some $10.5bn worth of deals were announced during the World Future Energy Summit, held in Abu Dhabi in January. Among the most significant was a $500m award to the UAE’s Masdar and France’s EDF to build a 400MW wind farm in northern Saudi Arabia, as part of the kingdom’s efforts to expand its renewable energy capacity to 60GW by 2030.

There must have been a collective sigh of relief around the Jafar family dining table on 23 April, when Dana Gas shareholders finally approved a debt refinancing deal, announced late last year after tough negotiations with creditors. Launched to much fanfare in 2005, the Sharjah-based company – founded by Hamid Jafar’s Crescent Petroleum – has faced many hurdles in the past eight years, and its share price has plummeted from the heady days that followed its IPO. In October 2012, Dana failed to settle a five-year $1bn sukuk, after massive payment delays in Egypt and Iraqi Kurdistan. At the end of March, Egypt owed Dana Dh866m ($236m) for gas supplies; in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) area, where it operates in partnership with Crescent and two smaller shareholders, it was owed Dh1, 389m.

Saudi energy minister Khalid Al-Falih was among the more notable visitors to the annual St Petersburg International Economic Forum, held in Russia’s second city from 24-26 May. Falih held talks with his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak to discuss how to move forward with an oil production pact which has now been in place for more than a year between members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and some non-members led by Russia.