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Finland’s Wärtsilä Corporation has received orders to supply two power plants to Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco), for installation in rural areas of south-eastern Oman which are outside the national grid. In a statement on 27 April, Wärtsilä said the larger unit, comprising seven Wärtsilä 32 engines with combined output of 56MW, would be located on the island of Masirah. The other power plant, to be located in Saih Al-Khairat, will have six 32 engines, with a total output of 48MW.

Vienna-based integrated oil and gas firm OMV Group has sent a delegation to the Al-Aqla oil field in Shabwa province to assess conditions on the ground. The 18 March visit was a rare event, as international oil companies have largely steered clear of Yemen since the civil war took hold. Oil and minerals minister Aous Al-Awd told the official Yemeni News Agency (Saba) it was “a preliminary step forward for the returning of all oil firms to the government-held regions”.

The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is considering buying Germany’s RWE Dea AG oil and gas exploration unit, according to news reports. On 11 July, the Wall Street Journal ran a story saying a Qatar state-owned entity had held initial talks with RWE; negotiations were not expected to proceed rapidly, given the political transition under way in Qatar. On 12 July, sources confirmed the story to Reuters. “The project has been moving very slowly and no decision should be expected anytime soon,” one person familiar with the potential deal said.

Kuwait has made several attempts at finding a regional answer to its energy conundrum. One plan, initially agreed in 2000, was to join Saudi Arabia in developing the Dorra natural gas field, which lies in the two countries’ Neutral Zone (GSN 761/1). But after more than a decade, disagreement over how to split the gas resulted in the project being shelved in August. “The entire project is on hold, the budget is on hold, no new drilling is anticipated for the 2013-14 budget for Dorra,” a senior Kuwait energy source told Reuters.

Dubai suffered a fall in container traffic last year, with throughput at the emirate’s ports – the most important shipping hub in the Gulf region – dropping by 5.3% in 2016 compared to the year before, according to the 2017 Review of Maritime Transport, published in late October by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad). In 2016, Dubai handled 14.8m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), down from 15.6m in 2015.

At least nine major unexplained explosions, fires and similar incidents across Iran in the past three weeks raise the prospect that a well-resourced, co-ordinated attack is under way by regime opponents based inside or outside the Islamic Republic. Alternatively, the wave of incidents could represent an opportunistic series of copycat strikes by a number of different players – or even, in some cases, genuine accidents.

Kuwait Petroleum International has signed a partnership agreement with Oman Oil Company on the development of a 230,000 b/d refinery and neighbouring petrochemicals complex in Duqm, Oman. It follows a memorandum of understanding between the two sides in November. Kuwait is to provide 65% of the crude for the refinery, though this could rise to 100% according to Kuwaiti oil minister Essam Al-Marzouq.

The economic downturn in Saudi Arabia may be gathering momentum, with signs that activity contracted at a faster pace in Q3 2017 than in Q2 17. London-based Capital Economics’ GDP Tracker – which is based on monthly activity data – indicates the oil sector contracted by around 5% year-on-year in September and by 4% over Q3 17 as a whole, due to oil production cuts agreed via the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec). However, non-oil activity shows signs of life.

The deal for India to invest $500m in the development of Chabahar port, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Iran which began on 22 May, is a useful fillip to President Hassan Rouhani’s efforts to show the nuclear deal, which came into effect in January, can deliver real benefits to the economy. It promotes a project in Iran’s south-east which will compete with Pakistan’s Gwadar port scheme across the border, which has attracted Saudi as well as Chinese support.

Senior figures, including energy, industry and mineral resources minister Khalid Al-Falih and Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser, have made it clear in recent weeks that Saudi Aramco has ambitions to become a significant energy player around the world. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January, Nasser said Aramco had assembled a team with “significant financial firepower” to identify acquisitions and was looking for US gas assets as part of a plan to invest billions of dollars in the country.

A Kuwaiti tanker carrying 18,000 tonnes of gas arrived at Basra on 23 July, as part of a package of aid by Kuwait to its larger neighbour. The fuel will be used to operate power stations to help deal with an acute electricity shortage in southern Iraq, which has triggered violent popular protests.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has set out a new strategy based around efficiency, profitability and maximising shareholder value, in the latest sign the UAE authorities are determined to cut wasteful spending. “Adnoc must evolve into a more agile organisation” said Sultan Ahmad Al-Jaber, the minister of state without portfolio who was appointed Adnoc’s chief executive in February. The changes are the latest in a series of reforms Al-Jaber has made since taking over. He has reshuffled the senior management team, ordered a review of major developments and is seeking cost reductions.

Russian oil giant Gazprom has signed an agreement to cooperate with Iranian Central Oil Fields Company on the development of the Cheshme Khosh and Changouleh oil fields in western Iran as well as a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Iranian Gas Company on gas trade and investment. A ceremony in Tehran on 13 December to formalise the oil fields agreement was attended by Iranian Oil Minister Bijan Namdar Zanganeh and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) launched the second of a planned five competitive bidding rounds for oil and gas exploration. The round was announced on 1 May and covers three offshore and two onshore blocks. In total, the blocks cover an area of approximately 34,000 km2. Some 11,000 km2 is covered by Offshore Block 3, which partially overlaps with existing concessions held by international oil companies (IOCs).

Qatar Airways (QA), which is 50% government owned, has long boasted of its growth and reach. In 2001, GSN wrote of chief executive Akbar Al-Baker’s ambition and competitiveness.