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Energy and shipping are at the heart of the warm relations between Russia and the UAE, providing Moscow with an outlet to the world that avoids western sanctions. It is a relationship that might rankle with Washington, but appears to be in line with local public opinion, with polling suggesting that more Emiratis value good relations with Russia and China than with the United States.

The 5 September Opec+ ministerial conference did nothing to accommodate the wishes of the many world leaders who had courted Gulf decision-makers in the expectation they might relieve pressure on energy-consuming economies.

Ammonia production has started at a facility developed by state-owned OQ in Oman's Dhofar.  Asian markets are a key export target.

Iran inaugurated a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) export terminal in the port of Bandar Abbas, following a two-month project to convert a disused gas storage facility.

The oil price boom has prompted a splurge in deal-making by Gulf funds, mirroring what the region’s sovereign wealth funds did when asset prices fell during the Covid pandemic.

Governments across the Gulf are enjoying another boom in  oil  and gas prices, which is all the more welcome given the fiscal crunch in many economies caused by the Covid pandemic.

GSN Risk Grade: D↓5 GCC ambassadors: The direction of political travel will undoubtedly be set by efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, but there has been some easing of regional tensions as Kuwait and the UAE sent ambassadors to Tehran for the first time since relations soured with the GCC countries in 2016.

Oman drew an audience of international oil companies and others to an event at London’s Mansion House in late July to push green hydrogen (GH2) and other ‘future fuels’ projects.

Dubai-based Blue Cactus joined several Chinese brokerages on the latest list of US sanctions targeting Iranian oil exports. The package of measures focused on the state-owned Persian Gulf Petrochemical Industry Company and adds to pressure on Tehran as negotiations on reviving the nuclear deal appear to reach their final make-or-break phase in Vienna – and gives an indication of Washington’s intentions should those talks fail.

For all the build-up, United States President Joe Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia on 15-16 July ended up being a distinctly underwhelming occasion. The grubby compromises of realpolitik were on clear display, but without the glittering prizes of any ‘historic’ breakthrough, either in political or economic terms.

Migrant flows: Gulf Co-operation Council countries are home to almost three-quarters of all migrants and refugees in the Arab region, according to the latest Situation Report on International Migration in the Arab Region.

The Saudi government is setting up a SR300bn ($80bn) fund to support the development of the futuristic city of Neom in the kingdom’s remote north-west corner.

A contract for the management of air traffic control at Afghanistan’s main airports is expected to be finalised in the coming weeks, with companies from the UAE, Qatar and Turkey in the running, after Abu Dhabi firms won a big ground services and security contract for Herat, Kabul, Kandahar and Mazar-e-Sharif. It is hoped improved services will encourage more airlines to return to Taliban-run Afghanistan.

Saudi Arabia’s Ajlan & Brothers (Abilitii) has signed an agreement with Israel-lined SolarEdge to explore renewable energy investments. The rare (possibly so far unique) public Saudi-Israeli deal was finalised on the sidelines of United States President Joe Biden’s mid-July visit to the kingdom by a company whose star has risen on Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s watch.

Oil and gas markets are expected to remain buoyant, whether or not Saudi Arabia makes concessions to the United States and Europe by pumping more crude. Ahead of a crucial early-August meeting of Opec+ ministers, the signs are that the Saudi-Russian axis will hold, but the market is restructuring with China and other Asian buyers taking more from Russia while the Gulf sends more to Europe.