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The barrage of up to 200 ballistic missiles Tehran fired at Israel on 1 October was the latest in a series of escalatory steps taken by Israel and Iran, as a conflict that began in Gaza a year ago threatens to spread across the region. Arab Gulf states have largely been bystanders to the events, but could yet fulfil important roles – by providing mediation, influencing allies and helping to stabilise energy markets.

Saudi Arabia is said to be considering dropping its unofficial price target of $100/bbl in favour of chasing market share. Concerns around the wars involving Israel and Iran and its proxies could help to sustain oil prices, although there is a risk of a disorderly break-up of the Opec+ agreement between oil cartel Opec and other major producers including Russia.

The Abu Dhabi-based developer has bought a 745MW portfolio of wind and solar assets in Spain and Portugal, and reached financial close on a 154MW wind farm in Serbia, continuing what has been an active year of deal-making in Europe by the company.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Energy and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec) were awarded further licences in September, adding to their existing portfolios in Indonesia, where both have recently made natural gas discoveries.

Bapco Energies has sold a minority stake in the pipeline that brings Saudi crude to the Bahrain Refinery and, in a separate deal, bought out its minority partners to take full control of Bapco Gas.

In decades past, Saudi Arabia used to try and extend its international influence by leveraging its status as the home of Islam’s holiest cities and by funding mosques and madrassas around the world. That strategy often drew unfavourable attention and these days it seems to pay more attention to garnering favourable coverage from social media influencers or hosting sporting events. Might artificial intelligence offer another path to promote its soft power status?

China’s Premier Li Qiang has called for faster progress on free trade negotiations with the GCC during a trip to Riyadh. At the same time, the GCC has been holding trade talks with Indonesia and Turkey, Oman has been pursuing a bilateral deal with India, and the UAE has been making changes to its approach to trade pacts after mixed results from its initial deals.

Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Tethys Oil has recommended its shareholders accept an offer from Australian suitor Roc Oil, which values the company at $186m.

The sale of 25% of the shares in OQ Exploration and Production could raise up to $2bn, according to some estimates.

The Daleel Petroleum partnership of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and an arm of the local MB Group has signed an oil and gas exploration and production concession for the block, adding to a portfolio which already includes Block 5.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company will acquire a 35% stake in ExxonMobil’s planned low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia facility, which would be one of the largest of its kind in the world.

The Sharjah Electricity, Water and Gas Authority has signed a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power to develop the emirate’s first independent water project at Al-Hamriyah. 

Dubai-headquartered Amea Power and Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company (Masdar) signed power purchase agreements for wind projects in Ethiopia and Egypt in August, covering a total of 500MW of power.

Germany-based chemicals company has OQ been owned by Oman since 2013, but the Gulf investor is now reportedly looking to sell its stake in the business, which has large debts and is at risk of falling into insolvency.

The Qatar Investment Authority has invested $180m in critical minerals investor TechMet to try and ensure future supplies of lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earths.