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The start of construction at the Dabaa nuclear power plant is both a major step forward for President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s ambition to lead Egypt into the elite grouping of nuclear nations and a rejection of Russia’s pariah status among western nations. But the start of work at El Dabaa is also a significant advance in Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (MBS)’s aim of shaping the development of a nuclear Middle East, with the ultimate goal of ensuring that Arab states can confront Iran on an equal footing without having to rely on the United States.

GSN Risk Grade - B3. Hydrogen developments: The government is among those that have seen an opportunity to be an early mover in the potentially huge global hydrogen economy.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Masdar and energy major BP are to develop clean hydrogen and technology hubs in a three-way partnership deal .

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) almost tripled the size of its initial public offering (IPO) on 30 March from 6.5% to 17% of its equity.

Qatar’s UrbaCon Trading & Contracting (UCC), one of the Gulf region’s largest contractors by value of work, is negotiating a €908.9m ($1bn) contract with General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol) for the construction and maintenance of a 1,044MW gas-fired emergency power plant in Zliten, on Libya’s Mediterranean coast, midway between the cities of Khoms and Misratah.

The Ministry of Energy has awarded two solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 1GW, after Saudi Power Procurement Company (SPPC) signed power purchase agreements (PPA) for the Al-Rass and Saad Solar projects.

Oman’s largest renewable energy project began operating on 24 January.

Dubai Electricity & Water Authority said on 3 February that it will convert its planned 2.4GW Hassyan coal-fired power plant to use natural gas instead.

GSN Risk Grade: B↓2↓ Solar power: Kuwait is planning to develop more renewable energy capacity, particularly in solar power, oil minister Mohammed Abdullatif Al-Fares told the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (Adipec) on 15 November.

A consortium of French giant EDF, Qatar’s Nebras Power and Japan’s Sojitz Corporation has been awarded a 25-year public/private partnership contract with National Electric Grid of Uzbekistan to design, finance, build, operate and maintain a 1,200-1,600MW combined cycle gas turbine plant in the Syrdarya region.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al-Abdullah made a brief tour of the Gulf in November, starting in Manama on 22 November and moving on to Abu Dhabi the following day. It came as the parliament in Amman began debating proposed political reforms which would see the prime minister chosen by parliamentary majority rather than picked by the king.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, host of the 26th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26), is rarely short of a pithy quip aimed at his support base. Indeed, whole policies have been woven around his notion that the UK electorate can “have its cake and eat it”, however misleading that may be. Johnson’s allies – and even his critics – in the Gulf’s oil and gas producing states would appreciate that sentiment as they emerge from the climate talks, due to end on 12 November.

While other majors have been pulling back, TotalEnergies chief Patrick Pouyanné has stuck with his commitment to invest big in Iraq and other troublesome ‘frontier’ areas, as the French giant signed a series of deals with the oil and electricity ministries and the National Investment Commission on 5 September to supply more natural gas to power plants and develop a solar photovoltaic power plant in the Basra region.

GSN Risk Grade – D↓4 Overview Politics: Iraq attained its independence as a kingdom in 1932; it became a republic in 1958. Saddam Hussein’s dictatorial presidency was marked by conflict, including the 1980-88 war with Iran, the 1991 Gulf war and the US-led occupation in 2003, which removed the Baathist regime.

Officials are adamant the sale and leasing of assets, and a steady flow of huge bond issues, are not being done to maintain Aramco’s $75bn annual dividend – and major new investments are planned that will need funding – but the oil giant is clearly under pressure to maintain its position as the state’s cash-cow.