As GCC turns 40, all eyes on post-oil era - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

Jun 3, 2021

A flame from a Saudi Aramco oil installion known as "Pump 3" is seen in the desert near the oil-rich area of Khouris, 160 kms east of the Saudi capital Riyadh, on June 23, 2008. — A flame from a Saudi Aramco oil installion known as "Pump 3" is seen in the desert near the oil-rich area of Khouris, 160 kilometers east of the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on June 23, 2008. — MARWAN NAAMANI/AFP via Getty Images

This picture shows fuel trucks parked near silos at the Saudi Aramco oil facility in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea city of Jeddah, Nov. 24, 2020.

Petrochemicals take center stage in Gulf’s new oil playbook

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

A man stands watching the newly-opened Holy Sites metro light rail in the western Saudi city of Mecca on November 2, 2010. - The Chinese-built monorail project, will link Mecca with the holy sites of Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah, and will operate for the first time during the Hajj this month at 35 percent capacity to ferry Saudi nationals who will take part in the upcoming annual Muslim pilgrimage. (Photo by AMER HILABI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AMER HILABI/AFP via Getty Images)

GCC Railway: a train across a fractured Gulf?

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

A Kuwaiti trader wearing a protective mask follows the market at the Boursa Kuwait stock exchange in Kuwait City on March 1, 2020. - Boursa Kuwait decided to close the main trading hall due to the COVID-19 coronavirus disease developments. Stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states plunged on March 1 over fears of the impact of the coronavirus, which also battered global bourses last week. All of the seven exchanges in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which were closed the previous two days for the Muslim

GCC states race for foreign investment

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business

A worker inspects bottles of milk on on the producion line at a dairy factory at Baladna farm in the city of al-Khor, 60 kilometers north of the Qatari capital on October 26, 2019. - The cows of Qatar's Baladna farm, housed in climate-controlled farms in the desert, exemplify the lengths to which Qatar has gone to resist what it calls an economic "blockade" enforced by its Saudi-led neighbours. (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Gulf economies face major challenges in post-COVID 19 world

Sebastian Castelier

Sebastian Castelier

In Dubai, reporting on regional business