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Economy & Business

Haitham AL-SHUKAIRI / AFP via Getty Images

Oman enters Gulf AI race with new special economic zone in Muscat

Oman will create an AI-focused special economic zone in Muscat governorate.

A pumpjack stands idle in the Huntington Beach oil field, with port cranes visible in the distance, on April 23, 2026, in Huntington Beach, California.

Oil surges past $120 to war-time high as Trump rejects Iran overture

Benchmark Brent crude surpassed $120 per barrel on Wednesday, reaching the highest levels yet seen during the US-Israel-Iran war.

An Iraqi money dealer counts Iranian rial banknotes bearing a portrait of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, at an exchange office in Baghdad on Feb. 3, 2012.

Iranian rial hits new record low as blockade, war take toll: What to know

The rial had another collapse in late 2025, triggering massive protests and riots in the country that were ended by a forceful government crackdown.

GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

UAE’s OPEC exit rattles cartel as Gulf alliances shift

OPEC's fourth-largest producer will leave the cartel on May 1, marking the most significant departure in the group’s history as the war changes Abu Dhabi's relationship priorities.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Latest News

Why UAE's decision to leave OPEC is major shift for cartel

MUMEN KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

First LNG tanker transits Strait of Hormuz since Iran war began

Yuichi YAMAZAKI / AFP via Getty Images

Pistachios reach highest prices in eight years amid Iran war

An Iranian grocer sells pistachios imported from Iran at a Persian products shop in the Gulf emirate of Dubai on July 10, 2019. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo credit should read KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

UAE’s cash request tests US ties as Iran war strains Gulf financial muscle

A view of Dubai Marina in Dubai on March 3, 2026.

United Arab Emirates

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Vanessa Ghanem

In Dubai, reporting on business, energy and politics

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Abu Dhabi

UAE business center releases whistleblowing guidelines

The UAE is seeking to improve financial transparency among other major financial changes happening in the Gulf state.

Xi Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia, China sign deals on tech, climate for Xi’s visit

The trip is a sign that Saudi Arabia is seeking more cooperation with China, especially in regards to energy and despite the kingdom’s relationship with the United States.

Water pours into an irrigation pool in Ghor al-Haditha, south of the Jordanian capital Amman, on April 20, 2021.

Jordan partners with USAID on water loss

Water loss is a major issue in Jordan due to theft and leakage.

Stock market brokers work at the Egyptian Exchange, Cairo, Egypt, Jan. 6, 2013.

Some Egyptian companies still dealing with Russia's alternative financial system

Some Egyptian companies are secretly dealing with a Russian alternative financial system, in anticipation of international sanctions by the United States.

Sarah Al-Ameri, the UAE Minister of State for Public Education and Future Technology, during the opening address of the Abu Dhabi Space Debate (ADSD) on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022.

UAE, Israel align interests at international space event

Conference shows that space exploration and commercialization is opening up to more countries.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Israel pursues climate cooperation with Morocco, Jordan

Israeli tech is sure to set the pace of climate cooperation in the region.

The United Arab Emirates' (UAE) minister of industry and advanced technology, Sultan al-Jaber (L), looks on as John Kerry, the US president's climate envoy, tours the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation (GMIS) Summit in Dubai on November 22, 2021. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

PRO: Middle East climate tech startups to be hot investment in 2023

A handful of regional firms have received significant investments recently.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

A worker carries an empty Petronas gas cylinder on his shoulder at a shop in Ampang, in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Feb. 29, 2016.

Malaysia’s Petronas to explore for 'unconventional oil' in Abu Dhabi

Unconventional oil, which is extracted via relatively complex methods, is found in the Western Hemisphere and Russia. Abu Dhabi is also seeking to extract some after successfully obtaining unconventional gas.

A fisherman tries to catch a freshly caught tilapia fish in a boat on the Nile River in the village of Gabal al-Tayr, north of the southern city of Minya, Egypt, Nov. 13, 2019.

Egypt to increase fish production at Lake Bardawil

Egypt is to develop one of the most important lakes in the north to ramp up its fish production and improve the economy in the northern Sinai Peninsula.

OPEC+ decision to maintain production marks end of oil’s turbulent year

The Saudi- and Russian-led cartel has both increased and decreased oil production this year, affecting global oil prices and relations with the United States in the process.

Chef Mahmoud Abd El Gaid prepares a veal steak at Pipa, an Italian restaurant, in Cairo on Monday Nov. 14, 2022.

Egyptian students turn to private companies for employable skills

Many Egyptian youth are graduating from universities and colleges without the skill sets needed to enter the current job market.

A man sells Simit on a street corner on Nov. 03, 2022 in Istanbul, Turkey. Turkey's official inflation rate topped 85.5% in October according to state statistics agency TUIK the highest level in 25 years.

As Turkey’s inflation slows in November, all eyes now on pay hikes

Despite the fall in the annual inflation rate, Turkish consumers are likely to face monthly price increases averaging 3% to 4% in 2023.