Arab Gulf states… a strategic victory without war

[_Arabia_]

Okay, let us see some data showing that "Gulf countries have such a strangehold on petroleum". Thanks.

You need to discuss this with the user who made the claim. Not me. All I have been writing has been based on facts and facts alone.

Anyway it is pretty undeniable that the collective GCC has a large influence on global oil and gas production and prizes - hence OPEC etc.

MashaAllah, that is great, AlHamdoLillah, but it is not what I asked, which was related to this particular claim:



Large oil and gas discoveries can happen elsewhere in the world at any time, given that extensive exploration continues.

I presume that the discussion centers around ground realities today and not WHAT could occur sometime in the future.

Speaking about oil, gas and mineral exploration, KSA alone, often on an annual basis, discovers large new oil, gas and mineral discoveries. Far from all areas of KSA are explored let alone elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula.

A few quick Google searches:

February 2026:

https://www.moenergy.gov.sa/en/media-center/news/minister-energy-announces-new-8-arabian-oil-6-natural-gas-discoveries-across-eastern-province-empty-quarter

April 2025:

Saudi Aramco discovers 14 new oil, gas fields

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has made a series of groundbreaking oil and gas discoveries in the Eastern Province and the Empty Quarter, further cementing Saudi Arabia’s position as a global energy leader. Announced by Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Wednesday, the discoveries include six...

www.arabnews.com

July 2024:

Saudi Arabia Reveals Seven Major Oil, Natural Gas Fields Discoveries | Egypt Oil & Gas

egyptoil-gas.com

May 2025:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Announce 'Highly Significant' Oil Discovery

'The discovery is regarded as highly significant', a joint statement noted.

www.rigzone.com

Notice the large numbers of discoveries.

7.8 million ounces of gold was discovered in January 2026:

https://gulfnews.com/business/markets/saudi-arabias-maaden-uncovers-78-million-ounces-of-new-gold-1.500409350

Gold discoveries in January 2025:

Ma'aden announces new gold discoveries in Saudi Arabia

State-owned Saudi mining company Ma’aden announced the discovery of “multiple intercepts of recoverable gold and copper grades”

www.agbi.com

The list goes on.

I find it very unlikely for any country, outside of Arabian Peninsula, to find oil and gas reserves that are as cheap to extract and of such a high quality and purity.

However you never now but the most logical thing would be to focus on the ground reality of today and not what potentially could happen or not in the future.

Another reminder, the Rub' al-Khali, which covers an area greater in size than Ukraine (which is the largest country in Europe after Russia in comparison), is estimated by many studies to hold some of the largest uncovered oil and gas reserves on the planet.

This Wiki page for geoscientists talks about it briefly:

RUB' alkhali

wiki.seg.org

There are also several published scientific papers that deals with the subject.

AI generated answer from Google:

"Yes, the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) not only could hold massive oil and gas reserves, but it already overlays some of the largest proven hydrocarbon deposits on Earth. Its subsurface is considered one of the world's most promising, untapped frontiers for future major conventional and unconventional energy discoveries. [1, 2, 3, 4]"

​

 

[_Arabia_]

KSA alone (1 single Arab country) has more natural wealth than every single country on the planet not named 7.5 times larger Russia (by far largest country on the planet) and 4 times larger USA.

10 Countries With the Most Natural Resources

Learn about the 10 countries with the most valuable natural resources, ranked by total estimated reserves, and see which ones dominate global resource wealth.

www.investopedia.com

Much of KSA (especially Hejaz and our western part of the country) is home to some of the world's largest not yet fully explored mineral wealth fields.

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Saudi Arabian oil is of the finest quality in the world and the cheapest to extract as well.

Compare KSA's natural wealth and our population ratio with that of USA and Russia.

The GCC alone also has the world's largest sovereign wealth funds (by far - only China and Norway are close) worth around 6-7 TRILLION USD as well as massive investments in almost every sector across the world from China to the West to practically all corners of the Muslim world.

In the case of KSA, within the span of just 8 years, we have developed one of the largest tourism sectors on the planet from scratch. With Hajj and Umrah numbers (alone) not even reaching 10% of the potential annual numbers, if geography was not a great barrier to reaching the full potential - Makkah and Madinah etc. can only accommodate so many people at once like every other place on earth.

Even smaller but extremely wealthy GCC states such as UAE (they have sovereign wealth funds worth almost 3 trillion USD alone - growing rapidly like all other GCC sovereign wealth funds) will be fine on the long run and quickly bounce back.

I am saying this as someone that is deeply against their foreign policy in the Arab world and despite KSA being directly at odds with them across numerous geopolitical fronts spanning from Sudan to Yemen to elsewhere.

In short, anyone wishing for the downfall of the GCC, will likely become very disappointed at the end of their natural lives. No offense to any dreamers here.

Albeit not comparable it reminds me a bit of the "US is soon going to collapse" lot. Actually when I think about it some of them tend to repeat both absurd claims to the great amusement of many, myself included.

 

[VCheng]

You need to discuss this with the user who made the claim. Not me.

I was, until you decided to reply to my query with irrelevant facts. Pleases stop. Thanks.

 

[_Arabia_]

I was, until you decided to reply to my query with irrelevant facts. Pleases stop. Thanks.

Not irrelevant for the topic discussed with was oil, gas and mineral wealth. As for the exploration part, from what I can see in this thread, you brought that up. As for the topic of this thread, I already wrote my opinion extensively. Also based on facts.

What is irrelevant is not for you to judge but for the readers. I could easily claim that your one-liners in this thread are irrelevant as well and that you should stop.

 

[VCheng]

discussed with was oil, gas and mineral wealth.

No, the claim was that Gulf countries have a stranglehold on petroleum. Yes, they have a lot of it, but so do many others. There is no stranglehold, unless you wish to present some fact to show that, please.

Besides, for the main topic, the Gult States are implicit partners in the war against Irn. Pretending that they achieved some kind of masteful victory withot fighitng is merely dishonest.

And that is my view, already presented.

 

[mythbuster]

I presume that the discussion centers around ground realities today and not WHAT could occur sometime in the future.

Speaking about oil, gas and mineral exploration, KSA alone, often on an annual basis, discovers large new oil, gas and mineral discoveries. Far from all areas of KSA are explored let alone elsewhere in the Arabian Peninsula.

A few quick Google searches:

February 2026:

https://www.moenergy.gov.sa/en/media-center/news/minister-energy-announces-new-8-arabian-oil-6-natural-gas-discoveries-across-eastern-province-empty-quarter

April 2025:

Saudi Aramco discovers 14 new oil, gas fields

RIYADH: Saudi Aramco has made a series of groundbreaking oil and gas discoveries in the Eastern Province and the Empty Quarter, further cementing Saudi Arabia’s position as a global energy leader. Announced by Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman on Wednesday, the discoveries include six...

www.arabnews.com

July 2024:

Saudi Arabia Reveals Seven Major Oil, Natural Gas Fields Discoveries | Egypt Oil & Gas

egyptoil-gas.com

May 2025:

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Announce 'Highly Significant' Oil Discovery

'The discovery is regarded as highly significant', a joint statement noted.

www.rigzone.com

Notice the large numbers of discoveries.

7.8 million ounces of gold was discovered in January 2026:

https://gulfnews.com/business/markets/saudi-arabias-maaden-uncovers-78-million-ounces-of-new-gold-1.500409350

Gold discoveries in January 2025:

Ma'aden announces new gold discoveries in Saudi Arabia

State-owned Saudi mining company Ma’aden announced the discovery of “multiple intercepts of recoverable gold and copper grades”

www.agbi.com

The list goes on.

I find it very unlikely for any country, outside of Arabian Peninsula, to find oil and gas reserves that are as cheap to extract and of such a high quality and purity.

However you never now but the most logical thing would be to focus on the ground reality of today and not what potentially could happen or not in the future.

Another reminder, the Rub' al-Khali, which covers an area greater in size than Ukraine (which is the largest country in Europe after Russia in comparison), is estimated by many studies to hold some of the largest uncovered oil and gas reserves on the planet.

This Wiki page for geoscientists talks about it briefly:

RUB' alkhali

wiki.seg.org

There are also several published scientific papers that deals with the subject.

AI generated answer from Google:

"Yes, the Rub' Al Khali (Empty Quarter) not only could hold massive oil and gas reserves, but it already overlays some of the largest proven hydrocarbon deposits on Earth. Its subsurface is considered one of the world's most promising, untapped frontiers for future major conventional and unconventional energy discoveries. [1, 2, 3, 4]"​

Apart from oil and gas you have huge reserves of other minerals that you never felt the need to explore intensively... you probably have more natural resources than USA and Russia.

 

[_Arabia_]

No, the claim was that Gulf countries have a stranglehold on petroleum. Yes, they have a lot of it, but so do many others. There is no stranglehold, unless you wish to present some fact to show that, please.

Besides, for the main topic, the Gult States are implicit partners in the war against Irn. Pretending that they achieved some kind of masteful victory withot fighitng is merely dishonest.

And that is my view, already presented.

Once again, that claim was not made by me but another user. I don't know about the claim because we need to define "stronghold" and what that individual who made that claim and his definition of it.

What is undisputed is that the collective GCC has tremendous oil and gas reserves (some of the largest in the world and if one country not only the largest oil reserves but also gas reserves on the planet), the whole OPEC element and it is quite fair and not very controversial to claim that GCC has some kind of influence (call it stronghold, big influence etc.) on the oil and gas markets and industry.

I am not aware of any GCC states participating in this war other than hosting US forces (logistical aspect) and retaliating when attacked - in the case of KSA largely useless and completely un-harmful attacks as I already covered.

But one could easily argue that GCC won the war/conflict, despite not being a direct participant, by coming out of this conflict much stronger than the adversary (Iranian regime). That is undisputed.

Especially as there could have been a scenario, instigated by Israel, where the oil and gas infrastructure in the region was greatly damaged/destroyed (of course it could always be rebuilt but the bill would be huge) but that did not occur. Material damages and deaths in the GCC were also practically non-existent in the case of KSA and very minimal elsewhere. More people die in car attacks in KSA in 1 day than people who died in all of the GCC.

Also I already wrote and admitted that the US could not have pursued this war (its bombardments against Iran) without the logistical support of KSA. Which as I wrote I have personally no problem with because the same Iranian regime, since 1979, has been aiding our enemies openly. Not many years ago we had Houthis launching 1000's of ballistic missiles and drones at KSA territory. Very few here talked about "Iran's" dishonest policies in this regard or called them out.

.. you probably have more natural resources than USA and Russia.

Quite possible but until every corner of the earth is fully excavated, we cannot know with certainty. For sure, as I also have covered already, most of KSA remains completely unexplored in regards to mineral excavation and also oil and gas. However geographical challenges are also very big. There are areas of the Rub' al-Khali to mention that area, that I already covered in earlier posts on this page, where no human has likely ever stepped foot. Those are not easy or cheap "expeditions" at all or without great risk for that matter.

 

[The SC]

" Submarine nuclear reactors " ..are you buying this claim from the twilight zone ?

It is serious..Iran was talking about it for a while..

 

[mythbuster]

Once again, that claim was not made by me but another user. I don't know about the claim because we need to define "stronghold" and what that individual who made that claim and his definition of it.

What is undisputed is that the collective GCC has tremendous oil and gas reserves (some of the largest in the world and if one country not only the largest oil reserves but also gas reserves on the planet), the whole OPEC element and it is quite fair and not very controversial to claim that GCC has some kind of influence (call it stronghold, big influence etc.) on the oil and gas markets and industry.

I am not aware of any GCC states participating in this war other than hosting US forces (logistical aspect) and retaliating when attacked - in the case of KSA largely useless and completely un-harmful attacks as I already covered.

But one could easily argue that GCC won the war/conflict, despite not being a direct participant, by coming out of this conflict much stronger than the adversary (Iranian regime). That is undisputed.

Especially as there could have been a scenario, instigated by Israel, where the oil and gas infrastructure in the region was greatly damaged/destroyed (of course it could always be rebuilt but the bill would be huge) but that did not occur. Material damages and deaths in the GCC were also practically non-existent in the case of KSA and very minimal elsewhere. More people die in car attacks in KSA in 1 day than people who died in all of the GCC.

Also I already wrote and admitted that the US could not have pursued this war (its bombardments against Iran) without the logistical support of KSA. Which as I wrote I have personally no problem with because the same Iranian regime, since 1979, has been aiding our enemies openly. Not many years ago we had Houthis launching 1000's of ballistic missiles and drones at KSA territory. Very few here talked about "Iran's" dishonest policies in this regard or called them out.


Quite possible but until every corner of the earth is fully excavated, we cannot know with certainty. For sure, as I also have covered already, most of KSA remains completely unexplored in regards to mineral excavation and also oil and gas. However geographical challenges are also very big. There are areas of the Rub' al-Khali to mention that area, that I already covered in earlier posts on this page, where no human has likely ever stepped foot. Those are not easy or cheap "expeditions" at all or without great risk for that matter.

There's is no hurry , leave them for the future generations.

 

[mythbuster]

It is serious..Iran was talking about it for a while..

Iranians are big mouths , they make insane claims.....they were badass madman of the region , threatening every country....they were saying ! If you Arabs stay out of our conflict with Israel and America we will deal with them....Arab and few other countries said ! Ok buddy , the arena is all yours , you don't have to worry about us , we will stay out of it.....these conceited idiots had the balls to launch missiles against Pakistan.

 

[The SC]

" Submarine nuclear reactors " ..are you buying this claim from the twilight zone ?

It is serious..Iran was talking about it for a while..

No, the claim was that Gulf countries have a stranglehold on petroleum. Yes, they have a lot of it, but so do many others. There is no stranglehold, unless you wish to present some fact to show that, please.

Besides, for the main topic, the Gult States are implicit partners in the war against Irn. Pretending that they achieved some kind of masteful victory withot fighitng is merely dishonest.

And that is my view, already presented.

Your views are dishonest than..because they don't match reality and facts.. they are just your own opinion..which is irrelevant in the midst of millions of opinions.

 

[mythbuster]

It is serious..Iran was talking about it for a while..

Your views are dishonest than..because they don't match reality and facts.. they are just your own opinion..which is irrelevant in the midst of millions of opinions.

Most of posters are either intellectually dishonest or overwhelmed by the ummah fervour

 

[_Arabia_]

Iranians are big mouths , they make insane claims.....they were badass madman of the region , threatening every country....they were saying ! If you Arabs stay out of our conflict with Israel and America we will deal with them....Arab and few other countries said ! Ok buddy , the arena is all yours , you don't have to worry about us , we will stay out of it.....these conceited idiots had the balls to launch missiles against Pakistan.

Somehow the "geniuses" on this forum, consider it some kind of achievement to launch a few missiles and drones (most of which were intercepted) at tiny GCC states and mostly empty hotels, empty US bases or even civilian areas. Imagine KSA launching drones and ballistic missiles at Eritrea or even Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and UAE and hailing this as some kind of tactical genius.

Iran did not even remotely win anything. Their only card that they could play (which I have always talked about long before June 2025) was to take the oil and gas infrastructure in the region (which impacts global economy hugely - an example of the word stronghold for @VCheng ) was to threaten mutual destruction of exactly that. Which did not take any genius to do. Once again, the Qatari Air Force alone has the capability to destroy either single oil and gas field installation in the region, Iran included.

It is also self-evident for any person with a room temperature IQ that the GCC has far more to lose materially and economically (seeing that we are some of the wealthiest economies out there) than a sanctioned, impoverished Iran with a worthless currency and not much to lose.

It was also painfully obvious that you cannot "win" a war by just conducting an air campaign alone as the US and Israel did. Their hope was for the Iranian people to rebel against the regime but that did not occur and often does not occur when your country is attacked. Not to mention that in January 2026 alone the Iranian regime killed 1000's of their own people (protestors) and not to mention that the Iranian regime and the IRGC runs every corner of Iran and is deeply embedded in the country across the board.

Also it quite probably, frankly speaking, suits not only the GCC but also the US and Israel, that this incompetent (largely) Iranian regime survives, even in a weakened state, rather than a sane regime emerging. Albeit a prosperous Iran would also suit the GCC greatly next door due to mutual massive trade etc.

You can view this as the France-Germany relationship. Now the largest trade partners if I am not wrong.

At one point in time this region of the world will have to move towards pragmatism and focus on economic growth and leave the rest behind. Either that or they will perish with the GCC (unless wars, conflicts etc. disrupt this) being the only succesfull island in the ocean with Turkiye a bit further away from that island.

Anyway I am more interested in renewables nowadays, reforestation, nature and animal preservation and conservationism in KSA.

Which is why such news is very promising:

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KSA reestablished/reforested, quite recently, an area the size of Lebanon.

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1 million hectares equals the size of Lebanon almost. Lebanon has a total land area of about 1,045,200 hectares.

 

[VCheng]

they don't match reality and facts.

Well, the facts show that Gulf States provided material support to the Iran war with bases and free use of their airspace. That is the reality.

Pretending otherwise is what is dishonest.

 

[VCheng]

an example of the word stronghold

Eh?

I hope you know that STRONGhold and STRANGLEhold are two different words!